Story  of  the 
American  Bible  Society 

1920 


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Officers  of  the  American  Bible  Society 


President 

Churchill  H.  Cdttino,  New  York 


President  Emeritus 

Jauei  Wood,  New  York 


(-'Vitus  Nobthbop.  LL.D, 

William  P.  Dillingham 

I !.  I.    Bbabo,  Tenn. 

Mm  in  1. 1.  E. 

Frank  E.  Si 

George  W. 

W.  T.  Habd 

Charles  E. 

II.  II.  Seldc 

John  R.  M< 

Robert  Do 

Joshua   I,i:v 

Simeon  B.  I 

James  N.  G 

Christophe 

Rohebt  F.  ] 

B.  Preston 

Carl  E.  Mi 

ROBXBT   II. 
Henry  Wai 
William  8. 
Robert  Lai 

M  R8.  John  '. 


Record 

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Hbnbt  S.  Si 
Howard  O. 
Eben  E.  Ol 


Vice-Presidents 

Minn.  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard,  N.  Y. 

Vt.  E.  Francis  Hyde.  N.  Y. 

John  Willis  Baeb,  LL.D.,  Cal. 
a. 

11. 

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ARLINGTON 


I.  Rabenold 
Sackett 


John  R.  Tai 

J.   Marshall  oiuaki 
Henry  A. Ingraham 


Mrs.  Theo.   Weston 


Harris 

«  ..  «n  AUEBBACH 

Miss  Ellen  McLean 


BV2370.A44   A3    1920 
American   Bible   Society. 
Story   of    the   American   Bible 
society,    1920. 


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Story  of  the 

American  Bible  Society 

1920 


AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY 

NEW   YORK 


CONTENTS 

Foreword,  5. 
Introduction,  7-10. 

I.  The  Year's  Output,  11-18. 

Issues,  11;  Where,  11;  Translation  and  Revision,  11 ;  Printing  at  Bible 
House,  12;  War  Service — in  Figures,  13;  War  Service — in  Incidents,  14-18 

II.  Directing  Agencies,  19-22. 

Board  of  Managers,  19;  Strengthening  the  Governing  Bodies,  20;  The 
Advisory  Committee,  20;    Officers,  Staff,  and  Workers,  22. 

III.  Distributing  Agencies,  23-48. 

Auxiliary  Bible  Societies,  23;  Volunteers,  23-26;  Colporteurs — A 
Tribute,  27    17. 

IV.  Home   Agencies,  48-96. 

Colored  People  of  the  South,  48-50;  Northwestern,  51-56;  South 
Atlantic,  57-61;  Western  62-68;  Pacific,  69-77;  Southwestern,  78-83; 
Eastern  84-89;    Central,  90-94;    Atlantic,  94-96. 

V.  Foreign   Agencies,  97-163. 

West  Indies,  97-103;  Mexico,  104-107;  Panama  Canal  and  Central 
America,  108-114;  La  Plata,  1 15-119;  Brazil,  120-122;  Levant,  123-129; 
Siam,  130-135;  China,  136-146;  Japan,  147-152;  Korea,  153-155; 
Philippines,  156-163. 

VI.  Beyond   the   Limits  of   the  Agencies,  164-176. 

Europe,  164-172;  Belgium  and  Germany,  164;  Czechoslovakia,  164-166; 
Switzerland,  166-169;  France,  169-170;  Italy,  171-172;  Asia,  172-173; 
Arabia,  172;   India,  172;    Africa,  173-176. 

Conclusion,    176. 

TOPICAL    GROUPINGS 
War  Service. 

At  Home:  In  Figures,  13;  In  Incidents,  14-18;  War  Work  Praised, 
50;    A  War  By-product,  59;    War's  Influence,  64. 

Abroad:  Testaments  for  Soldiers,  Porto  Rico,  98;  Scriptures  to  Sol- 
diers, Costa  Rica,  109;  Belgian  Refugees  in  Holland,  167;  Gospels  in 
France,  168;  Returning  Refugees,  168;  Algeria  Also,  169;  France,  169- 
170;  Africa — Tomorrow,  174;  How  A  German  Moslem  Soldier  Became 
a  British  Christian,  174-175. 

Volunteer  Distributers. 

At  Home:  A  Joy  and  Satisfaction,  24;  Ministers  and  Laymen,  24;  In 
Vast  China,  25;  Filipinos  Setting  the  Pace,  26;  A  Factory  Hand  Helps, 
58;  Volunteer  Street  Preachers,  72;  A  Lavman's  Activities,  73;  Volun- 
teers, 83. 

Abroad:  Volunteer  Helpers,  100;  Voluntary  Work,  141;  Doctor  Be- 
comes Voluntary  Colporteur,  144;  House-to-house  Canvasses  in  the 
Philippines,  160. 

Colporteurs — A   Tribute. 

What  the  Colporteur  Does,  28-32,  53,  54,  56,  64,  65,  67,  105,  110,  111, 
141,  159,  162;  What  Colporteurs  Undergo,  32-34,  49,  81,  102,  117,  132, 
133;    Colporteurs'  Remuneration,  34-38,  55,  60. 


Meeting   America's   Problem   and    Menace. 

Colonics  of  Foreigners  in  Greal  Cities,  39;    The  Many  Languages,  40 

41;  Scriptures  a  Groat  Unifying  Factor,  41;  An  Astonishing  List,  52; 
The  Challenge  of  a  Great  City,  52;  A  Babylon  of  Religions,  7^;  There  I  i 
N.»  Cod,  83;    Character  of  the  Population,  90. 

Reaction   on   Home   Countries,   42-43. 

Reaction,  53. 

The  Accomplishment   of   the   Unaided   Scriptures. 

John  3:  16  in  South  America,  44;  Through  the  Reading  of  an  Old 
Bible,  44;  In  Awakening  China,  45;  Apostolic  Language  and  Events,  r,: 
Individual  Instances,  115;  Being  Myself  One  of  Them,  117;  Nut  in 
Vain,  119. 


The  Call   for  Complete   Bibles,  45. 
Striking   Incidents. 


At  Home:  Fighting  Whiskey,  49;  Unexpected  Helpers  and  Purchasers, 
66;  Sales  in  a  Poolroom,  66;  A  Happy  Frenchman,  71;  On  the  Mexican 
Border,  80;  After  Many  Days,  87;  The  Children  Look  Up  and  Are  Not 
Fed,  93. 

Abroad:  Why  She  Learned,  99;  Please  Pardon  the  Mistake,  99;  Two 
Merchants  Buy  200  Gospels,  103;  A  Gospel  Hall  From  a  Roman  Catholic 
Bible,  112;  "What  a  Difference!",  118;  A  Notable  Journey,  122;  A  Sur- 
prising Fact,  127;  Individual  Experiences,  127;  Timely  Help,  128;  In 
Bangkok,  134;  Noted  Chinese  Testify,  140;  Bible  Classes  in  Govern- 
.  ment  Schools,  140;  A  Christian  Chinese  General,  143;  Fruit  of  a  5-sen 
Testament,  148;  A  Striking  Sequence,  149;  A  Pearl  Factory  and  a  Bible 
Enthusiast,  151;   "Bible  Crazy  ",  151;  Scriptures  Save  From  Suicide,  166. 

Methods  Employed. 

At  Home:  Teaching  to  Read,  50;  A  Child  Shall  Lead,  57;  His  Plan 
of  Work,  59;  A  Suggestion  to  Ministers,  61;  Helping  the  Sick,  68;  Tact 
and  Results,  71;  By  Aeroplane,  73;  Christmas  Gifts  to  Prisoners,  75; 
Help  out  of  the  Sky,  76;  A  Chain  and  New  Life,  79;  "R.  F.  D."  Box 
Helps,  81;  Pocket  Mirrors  with  a  Telescope  Attachment,  85;  A  Gospel 
Car,  88;     Auxiliaries  and  County  Fairs,  88. 

Abroad:  "It  Is  a  Treasure,"  101;  A  National  Trait  Used,  104;  Enthu- 
siastic Young  Colporteurs,  105;  House-to-house  Canvass  in  Siam,  131; 
Training  Colporteurs,  134;   Rapid  Sales,  141;  A  Million  Houses  Visited,  142. 

Results  Worth  While. 

At  Home:  In  Jail,  56;  Purchasers  of  Seven  Nationalities  Testify,  63; 
Sailors  of  Many  Nations,  71;  Three  Missions  Formed,  89;  Growth  all 
along  the  Line,  163. 

Abroad:  French  Patriots  Are  Grateful,  102;  Sowing  Gospels  Produces 
Call  for  Bibles,  103;  Direct  Results,  110;  Shining  Examples,  135;  The 
Mandarin  and  Wenli  Bibles,  138;  Churches  from  Colporteur's  Seed-sowing, 
140;    Are  Chinese  Grateful?  145;    An  Official  Tribute,  159. 


Among  the  tenements 
a  our  great  cities  or  among- 
the  lonely  ranchers  cm  the  plains 
WHEREVER 

We  find  tho*e  wko  do  not  have 
Gods  Vord-want  it -but  cannot  pay- 
The  Dibit?  Society  oHers  free  ot  charae 

THE  BLESSED  BOOK  J 

Tens  ol  thousands  of  copies  are 
gratuitously  6iven  every  year. 


Foreword 

The  Story  has  a  defined  purpose.  Its  duty  is  to 
present  compactly  the  more  important  features  of  the 
work  and  results  of  circulating  the  Scriptures  by  the 
American  Bible  Society,  for  those  who  wish  to  know 
or  tell  of  it.  The  sources  from  which  it  draws  are 
the  reports  from  the  nine  Home,  and  eleven  Foreign, 
Agencies,  with  some  additional  facts  from  head- 
quarters and  from  the  Foreign  Correspondents  in 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  Printed  in  full  these  con- 
stitute the  Annual  Report — an  octavo  volume  of  over 
500  pages.  The  Story  is  not  a  tithe  of  that  size. 
It,  therefore,  is  necessarily  a  selection  and  condensa- 
tion, aiming  to  give  the  main  facts,  and  incidents  of 
most  human  interest. 

This  issue  of  the  Story  deals  first  with  the  facts 
and  factors  largely  common  to  the  whole  work,  such 
as  the  year's  output,  the  directing  and  distributing 
agencies,  and  some  of  the  outstanding  features  of 
the  year's  experience;  then  passes  on  to  the  indi- 
vidual reports  from  the  Home  and  Foreign  Agencies; 
and  ends  with  the  Foreign  Correspondents. 

Howard  Chandler  Christy's  war-time  poster  picture 
is  used  on  the  cover  to  emphasize  an  American  prob- 
lem in  the  solution  of  which  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety is  actively  contributing — the  problem  of  assimi- 
lating and  unifying  the  ever  incoming  and  widening 
stream  of  peoples  from  divers  races,  nations,  classes, 
and  conditions. 

On  July  1st,  before  this  has  been  printed,  the 
death  of  Mr.  William  Foulke  has  deprived  the 
Society  of  one  who  had  been  its  loyal  Treasurer 
since  1886.  A  Christian  gentleman  of  the  finest 
type,  he  will  be  greatly  missed.  In  May,  Rev.  Gil- 
bert Darlington  had  been  appointed  Assistant  Treas- 
urer. These  events  of  1920  necessarily  receive  only 
brief  mention  in  this  Story. 


CHURCHILL    HUNTER    CUTTING 


Story  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  1920 


Introduction 

11  ^W^HE  sole  object  shall  be  to  encourage  a  wider 

JL  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  without 
note  or  comment."  .  .  .  Thus  Article  I  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

The  record  of  1919  on  the  fulfillment  of  this  object 
has  two  aspects.  The  obverse:  The  demand  was  far 
beyond  the  supply — a  glad  fact  and  stimulating  pros- 
pect. The  reverse:  The  supply  was  far  below  the 
demand — a  sad  fact  and  a  call  to  action. 

The  call  for  the  Word  of  God  in  1919  was  in- 
creasing not  only  in  nominal  Christian  lands,  but  even 
more  in  lands  where  other  faiths  and  superstitions 
still  hold  sway.  The  uniform  statement  from  Home 
and  Foreign  fields  was  that  the  chief  limitation  of  the 
circulation  was  the  lack  of  books.  Even  the  com- 
paratively few  employed  workers,  reduced  by  the 
stringency  of  former  years,  were  often  left  without 
sufficient  stock  to  carry  on,  much  more  to  make  a 
progressive  campaign. 

In  Brazil,  our  largest  sister  republic  in  the  West, 
where  Bible  distribution  doubled  that  of  the  previous 
year,  Bibles  desired  could  not  be  supplied  many  times 
because  they  were  not  on  hand.  In  the  Philippines, 
where  the  American  Bible  Society  has  taken  the 
sole  responsibility,  "owing  to  lack  of  supplies  most 
of  our  sellers  had  been  compelled  to  cease  work  and 
to  seek  employment  elsewhere."  From  a  sub- Agency 
Secretary  in  China,  with  a  territory  equal  to  an  ordi- 
nary Agency,  comes  word  that  300  centers  of  Scrip- 
ture distribution  which  existed  in  his  field,  during  the 
first  part  of  1919  dwindled  almost  to  nil,  all  for  the 


BUILDIN 


One  of  the   1 

Press  Room! 

of  the 

Bible  House 

Covering    Machine— In    the    Bindery,    as  in   Othe 

Departments,  Are  Labor-Saving  Devices 

Which   Interest    Many  Visitors 


Printing  Bibles  for  the  Blind.     Th« 

in  Existence— They  Eml 

Sides  with  On 


*  When  the  war  began  the  American  Bible  Society  Press  was  the  only  < 

Testaments. 
**This  remarkable  and  unique  printing  press  was  the  invention  and  gift  of 


BIBLES 


Sheet  Room-Containing  About  17,000  Reams 

(Equivalent    to    2,439,000  Testaments). 

56  Languages  Are  Represented 


?e   Is  Set  Here  on  Monotype 
any  Tongues 


V, 


i/ 


e  but  Two  of  These  Presses 
le  Page  on  Both 
ression   ~!K  ~K 


Depository— Stacking  'Vest    Pocket"  Testaments/A 
Over  2,500,000  of  These  Were  Supplied  to 
the  Army  and  Navy  during  the  War 


Q  the  United  States  making  these  small,  thin-paper,  narrow-margin 
W.  B.  Wait,  42  years  principal  of  the  New  York  School  for  the  Blind. 

(See  pages  12  and  13.) 


10  STORY    OF   THE 

want  of  books.  From  another  such  sub-Agent  comes 
the  word:  "It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  had 
books  been  available  we  could  have  sold  three  times 
as  many."  Well  may  the  China  Agency  Secretary 
himself  say  that  it  is  "poor  mission  policy  not  to 
furnish  all  the  books  which  could  be  circulated  by 
our  present  staff,  when  we  could  easily  distribute  an 
additional  1,500,000  copies  for  the  cost  of  printing, 
boxing,  and  shipping  that  number  of  portions." 

Nor  has  it  been  altogether  a  matter  of  lack  of 
books.  In  part  it  has  been  a  lack  of  funds.  In 
these  days  of  unrest  and  weakening  morale,  when  it 
is  especially  important  that  the  youth  of  the  land 
be  given  safe  and  sane  foundations,  think  what  it 
means  when  the  Scriptures  are  not  available  even 
for  those  who  desire  them.  A  state  legislature,  reali- 
zing its  value,  passes  a  law  requiring  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  in  all  the  schools  supported  by  public 
funds.  A  county  superintendent  of  public  schools 
seeks  400  Bibles  to  carry  out  this  requirement  in  as 
many  schools.  But  the  Agency  Secretary  had  not 
the  funds  to  help  meet  the  request! 

However,  there  is  an  offset  to  the  depressing  failure 
in  the  supply.  It  has  not  been  because  Christian 
givers  have  failed  to  give.  The  fact  is,  more  money 
has  been  given,  but,  fewer  books  have  been  produced 
because  of  the  increased  cost  of  production. 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  11 

I.  The  Year's  Output 

ISSUES 

Despite  the  lamentable  lack  of  supply,  we  still 
may  rejoice  that  3,752,309  volumes  of  Scripture 
were  issued  during  the  year;  1,734,864  in  the  Home 
field;  1,954,671  in  the  Foreign  Agencies;  and  62,774 
by  Foreign  Correspondents  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.  Remembering  that  the  sun  never  sets  on 
the  work  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  that 
every  minute  of  the  year  some  one  is  probably  dis- 
tributing its  Scriptures,  this  issue  of  over  3,700,000 
volumes  means  that,  on  an  average,  over  eleven 
volumes  have  been  issued  every  minute  of  the  year. 
This  is  no  small  achievement. 

Where? 

Roughly,  30%  of  the  circulation  of  the  year  was 
in  the  United  States;  17%  in  countries  where  Roman 
Catholicism  has  been  dominant;  2%  in  countries  dis- 
tinctly under  Moslem  influence,  and  50%  among 
other  peoples  of  Asia  and  Africa. 

Full  data  and  tables  of  statistics  may  be  found  in 
the  Annual  Report.  Here  we  add  only  two  details. 
Of  the  issues  named,  354,387  were  Bibles,  689,967 
were  Testaments,    and  2,707,955  were  portions. 

During  its  104  years  the  Society  has  supplied — 

In  the  United  States 82,697,551  volumes 

In  Foreign  Lands 55,206,388 

Or  a  total  of 137,903,939 

TRANSLATION    AND   REVISION 

During  the  year,  the  most  notable  contribution  in 
translation  and  revision  was  the  completion  of  the 
Union  Revision  of  the  Mandarin  Version  of  the 
Bible.  For  a  generation  translators  have  been  en- 
gaged on  this  important  task.  The  Mandarin  Version 
now  makes  the  Scriptures  available  in  a  language 


12  STORY    OP    THE 

said  to  be  spoken  by  more  people  than  any  other  on 
the  face  of  the  earth— 300,000,000.  Other  revision 
work  is  in  process,  such  as  that  in  the  Siamese  and 
Laos  versions,  and  some  final  touches  in  the  Portu- 
guese and  Spanish.  The  Rev.  George  Allan  is  con- 
tinuing translation  in  the  Bolivia  Quichua.  Trans- 
lation of  the  four  Gospels  into  Mukri  Kurdish  has 
been  completed  by  the  Rev.  L.  O.  Fossum. 

The  complete  Bible  has  been  printed  for  the 
first  time  in  the  Union  Mandarin  Version  above 
mentioned  and  also  in  the  Union  Wenli  Version, 
completed  in  1918 — triumphs  of  a  generation  of 
scholarly  effort  on  the  part  of  missionaries  and  edu- 
cated Chinese  in  that  great  land.  The  four  Gos- 
pels were  also  printed  in  Mukri  Kurdish  for  the 
first  time  in  1919. 

PRINTING   AT   THE   BIBLE   HOUSE 

Another  phase  of  the  year's  output  is  worthy  of 
separate  mention.  The  publishing  department  of 
the  Bible  House  is,  in  several  respects,  the  most  re- 
markable in  the  world.  During  1919  it  added  8 
languages  to  its  repertoire  of  those  in  which  it  prints 
the  Scriptures,  making  now  68  languages  in  which 
it  has  printed  them,  besides  six  systems  for  the 
blind. 

In  1919  there  were  printed  and  bound  in  the  Bible 
House,  1,237,575  volumes  of  Scriptures,  and  this  was 
less  than  half  of  its  output  in  1918  or  1917.  Roughly, 
the  average  of  recent  years  has  been  2,000,000  volumes 
a  year.  What  does  this  mean?  Think  a  moment. 
Deducting  Sundays  and  holidays,  there  are  275  work- 
ing days  a  year  of  eight  hours  each.  This  2,000,000 
volumes  means  16  books  printed  and  bound  for  every 
minute  of  every  working  day  in  the  year ! 

Here  we  may  add  some  other  surprising  recent 
tabulations.  Presses  were  first  set  up  in  the  Bible 
House  in  1853.     The  Annual  Reports  state  the  num- 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  13 

ber  of  volumes  printed  and  bound  in  the  Bible 
House.     The  total  for  the  years  1853  to  1919  are: 

Bibles 19,352,069 

Testaments 34,304,730 

Portions 20,021,513 

Almost  twenty  million  complete  Bibles!  Adding 
24,647  volumes  of  Scriptures  for  the  blind,  manu- 
factured in  the  Bible  House,  there  have  been  pro- 
duced in  this  building  the  magnificent  total  of 
73,702,959  volumes  of  Scripture.  This  averages  over 
eight  volumes  a  minute  every  eight-hour  working-day 
in  67  years. 

Other  Publications 

To  the  truly  remarkable  record  of  Scriptures  an- 
nually printed,  is  to  be  added  the  record  of  other 
publications  produced  in  1919:  2,000  Annual  Reports, 
7,000  copies  of  the  Story,  an  aggregate  of  100,000 
copies  of  the  monthly  Bible  Society  Record,  and  over 
300,000  pamphlets,  leaflets,  etc.,  making  more  than 
420,000  copies  printed.  The  preparation  and  editing 
of  these  publications,  from  the  one-page  press  notice 
to  the  six  hundred  page  Annual  Report  volume,  is  the 
work  of  the  Secretaries. 

OUR  WAR  SERVICE— IN  FIGURES 

Another  phase  of  the  year's  output  has  been  that 
consequent  on  the  war.  During  1919,  379,088  vol- 
umes of  Scriptures  in  the  special  Army  and  Navy 
editions  were  issued;  which,  added  to  those  previous- 
ly issued  during  this  one  war,  made  a  total  of  4,920,543 
volumes  of  Scripture  supplied  for  the  forces  of  the 
United  States  on  land  and  sea. 

Abroad,  41,270  volumes  were  supplied,  chiefly 
among  the  European  forces;  which,  added  to  the 
previous  distribution,  made  a  total  of  1,887,758 
volumes  supplied  by  the  American  Bible  Society 
among  the  forces  of  foreign  nations. 


14  STORY    OF    THE 

The  total  thus  far  reported  as  distributed  by  the 
American  Bible  Society  during  the  war  among  the 
forces  engaged  is,  therefore,  6,808,301. 

Such  is  the  marvelous  outcome  of  a  work  under- 
taken in  faith  by  the  Board  of  Managers  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  when  there  were  no  funds  avail- 
able for  this  special  purpose.  This  faith  has  been 
rewarded.  Contributions  of  $247,121.57  have  come 
to  the  Army  and  Navy  Fund.  Expenses  were 
$264,578.25,  leaving  a  comparatively  small  deficit  of 
$17,456.68  on  this  account. 

This  ministry  is  being  continued  to  the  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  marines  of  the  United  States. 

OUR  WAR  SERVICE— IN  INCIDENTS 

While  the  active  work  of  circulating  the  Scriptures 
consequent  on  the  war  has  ceased,  the  reports  for 
1919  contain  many  references  to  the  results  of  that 
circulation  and  other  incidents  growing  out  of  it. 

At  Home 

A  colporteur,  calling  at  the  home  of  a  retired  sol- 
dier at  Battle  Creek,  was  shown  an  American  Bible 
Society  khaki  Testament,  which  had  been  given  him 
by  a  Red  Cross  officer.  It  had  been  through  many 
engagements,  in  one  of  which  bursting  shrapnel  had 
pierced  halfway  through  the  book,  carried  in  his 
breast  pocket,  and  remained  embedded  there.  But 
for  this  Testament  it  would  have  been  a  mortal 
wound.  Another  worker  saw  khaki  New  Testaments 
in  many  homes,  and  found  ex-soldiers  gave  the  khaki 
Testaments  friendly  recognition,  mentioning  seeing 
them  overseas  and  scattered  over  the  fields  of  the 
Argonne  drive.  A  stalwart  soldier  told  of  carrying 
his  Testament  in  many  a  conflict.  Another  told  of  a 
soldier  who  lay  dying  with  a  Testament  in  his  hands, 
and  said  to  his  companion,  "Bury  it  with  me." 

Bishop  Wilson  told  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  who 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  15 

saw  two  of  our  boys,  their  eyes  open,  but  fixed  in 
death,  and  in  their  rigid  hands  these  khaki  Testa- 
ments. 

A  sister  of  a  soldier  who  had  returned  from  France 
told  of  his  losing  his  khaki  Testament  on  the  battle- 
field. An  English  soldier  had  picked  it  up,  and  from 
the  name  and  address  within,  sent  the  book  home. 
"He  always  reads  from  that  little  Testament  at  our 
evening  prayer,"  said  the  sister  gladly.  One  col- 
porteur found  that  the  great  war  had  not  diminished 
people's  interest  in  the  Bible.  Those  revisited  were 
found  even  more  willing  to  purchase  and  still  more  to 
have  its  teachings  explained. 

It  was  through  co-operation  of  the  South  Atlantic 
Agency  that  2,500  volumes  of  Scriptures  were  given 
to  the  large  detachments  of  Czechoslovakian  soldiers 
as  they  passed  through  Norfolk,  Va.,  on  their  way 
from  Siberia  to  their  homeland. 

Abroad 

In  the  West  Indies  khaki  Testaments  have  been  dis- 
tributed to  the  Porto  Rican  soldiers,  the  churches  hav- 
ing taken  interest  in  supplying  their  soldier-members, 
and  making  contributions  to  the  Bible  Society  in 
return.  During  a  revolution  in  Costa  Rica  members 
of  churches  distributed  Gospels  to  the  several  hun- 
dred soldiers  going  to  the  front.  Many  times  a  regi- 
ment was  formed  in  line  to  receive  the  Scriptures. 
Not  a  soldier  refused  a  Gospel. 

The  Pacific  Agency  had  an  old  stock  of  Chinese 
Scriptures,  which  were  sent  to  France,  where  they 
were  distributed  to,  and  gladly  received  by,  a  Chinese 
labor  battalion,  that  was  under  the  spiritual  and 
moral  oversight  of  a  former  American  Bible  Society 
worker  in  China. 

A  group  led  by  a  consecrated  young  Brazilian  put 
a  New  Testament  in  the  hands  of  each  man  in  the 
Brazilian  Navv.     In  1919  a  Brazilian  sailor  came  with 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  17 

his  mother  and  sister  to  a  mission  hall  and  asked  for 
baptism,  reporting  that  this  step  was  the  result  of 
reading  one  of  these  Testaments. 

Belgium,  France,  Switzerland,  Italy,  and  East 
Africa  give  additional  reports  of  our  war  service. 
Printing  these  all  in  the  Annual  Report,  here  we  re- 
produce only^One;  but  that  fully.  Though  a  belated 
report  of  tne  work  of  1918,  it  is  peculiarly  interesting 
in  giving  a  further  chapter  in  the  strange  and  striking 
story  of  what  was  accomplished  by  the  Scriptures  in 
Sheets wa,  printed  at  the  Bible  House  and  sent  dur- 
ing the  war*v^o  Africa.  It  comes  in  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  W,€.  Terril,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Missis    <^f  Jnhambane,  East  Africa. 


"Sr, 

Scri]  :.u 
again  a 
deta , 

or  J  ;im 


Like  Daniel  of  Old 

^the  boys  to  whom  I  sent  copies  of  the 
hile  they  were  in  Niassaland  are  back 
ambane.  I  wish  that  I  could  relate  in 
m  experiences.  They  are  inspiring.  Joao 
Enosi  and  Timote — others  as  well — tell  us 
ho\v-^n6(jf:  called  the  natives  together  for  prayers  in 
the  inc. .'sings  and  evenings,  and  also  that  on  Sundays 
tfc  v  wfjjald  find  time  some  hour  during  the  day  for 
a  reg  .^Sunday  service  like  they  had  at  home.  All 
the  •  ni||  Officers  were  very  kind  and  considerate  to 
them  aneg  ^  not  offer  any  objection. 

An  Objector  Answered 

k  officer  only  opposed  them,  but  Enosi 
I  understand  that  in  all  the  armies  of 
es  religious  services  are  held  for  the  white 
|jgeh  has  been  done  in  all  ages  when  they 
have&gyrrc  to  war.  The  black  man  must  also  have 
services  a...  I  in  that  way  find  help  from  God;  for  we 
are  -afipfi^gjust  as  the  white  man  is,  to  establish 
ripht^feisnSss  in  the  world.'  The  officer  said  no 
fa  ' 


18  STORY    OF    THE 

Cultivating  and  Sowing 

On  Sundays  the  Christians  would  walk  a  distance 
of  ten  or  twelve  miles  to  attend  services.  Moham- 
medans were  stimulated  to  hold  similar  services  by 
the  example  of  the  Christians.  "There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  the  Inhambane  native  Christians  helped  to 
keep  alive  the  work  of  God  in  their  midst,  as  well  as 
in  their  own  hearts,  by  these  meetings  while  in  Ger- 
man East  Africa.  Heathens  who  had  never  heard 
the  gospel  came  in  contact  with  it,  and  they  will 
doubtless  carry  back  to  their  homes  some  gospel  seeds 
that  were  sown  in  their  hearts.  The  Sheetswa  Scrip- 
tures helped  to  keep  the  work  of  God  moving  on  at 
this  eastern  front." 

To  the  End 

"Some  of  our  lads  will  never  return.  They  shed 
their  blood  and  gave  their  lives  for  the  cause  of 
democracy.  Enosi  said  that  some  of  them  pillowed 
their  heads  on  their  Bibles  when  they  lay  burning 
with  fever.  When  it  would  cease  its  raging  for  a 
brief  moment  the  Bible  was  opened  and  some  word 
read  from  it.  Ofttimes,  he  said,  he  saw  his  brethren 
die  with  their  Bibles  for  their  pillows." 

The  War  Retards  Work  in  China 

A  regrettable  phase  of  war's  effects  is  set  forth  by 
an  unexpected  source — the  North  China  Sub-Agency 
as  follows: 

"Owing  to  conditions  brought  about  by  the  world 
war,  the  circulation  of  Scriptures  has  been  as  follows : 

"1915 1,058,781 

1916 885,480 

1917 602,201 

1918 377,901 

1919 327,766" 

And  this  sad  decrease  is  all  the  sadder  because  it  is 
due  entirely  to  the  constant  decrease  in  stock,  cut 
down  by  lack  of  funds  for  publication. 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  19 


II.  The  Directing  Agencies 

THE  BOARD  OF  MANAGERS 

The  action  and  outlook  of  the  Board  have  been 
that  of  "Forward  in  faith."  Over  against  appro- 
priations in  1918  totalling  $670,000,  in  1919  the 
Board  of  Managers,  in  faith,  appropriated  $775,000, 
and  for  1920  have  made  appropriations  totaling 
$988,000.  The  receipts  for  the  two  years  completed 
indicate  God's  approval,  and  Christian  giving,  have 
been  with  the  Board  in  these  advances.  The  receipts 
and  expenditures  for  the  years  1918  and  1919,  omit- 
ting those  in  connection  with  the  special  Army  and 
Navy  Fund*  in  both  years,  were: 

1918  1919 

Receipts $766,469.51     $857,037.23 

Expenses 740,595.52      853.544.80 

The  increase  in  appropriations  has  been  made  in 
part  to  help  meet  the  increased  cost  of  production, 
and  in  part  to  help  retrieve  the  ground  lost  during 
the  years  of  war  when  the  employed  forces  and  the 
activities  were  both  curtailed. 

Changes  in  Agencies   to  Meet  Changing  Conditions 

Further,  the  Board  has  been  neither  unmindful  nor 
inactive,  in  regard  to  changing  conditions  at  home  and 
abroad.  The  emigration  of  the  colored  people  from 
the  South  to  the  North  has  been  met  by  enlarging 
the  borders  of  the  Agency  for  Work  among  the 
Colored,  to  cover  work  for  them  throughout  the 
United  States.  Abroad,  to  more  adequately  carry 
forward  the  work  in  the  developing  and  increasingly 
important  fields  of  South  America,  a  part  of  the  ex- 
tensive La  Plata  Agency  has  been  formed  into  the 

*  The  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  same  years  on  the  Army  and  Navy 
Fund  were:  1918  1919 

Receipts $146,376.89        $9,721.63 

Expenses 148,497.34  4,803.72 


20  STORY    OF    THE    AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY 

West  Coast  Agency.  Plans  are  under  way  for  the 
resumption  and  readjustment  of  work  in  the  Levant 
Agency,  looking  to  a  real  advance  in  meeting  the 
needs  and  seizing  the  opportunities  which  the  Near 
East  will  increasingly  reveal  as  the  rigors  of  war  are 
ended  and  the  expatriated  remnants  return  to  their 
homes.  The  exchange  of  fields  in  Asia,  reported  last 
year,  has  been  accomplished,  so  that  the  entire  work 
of  the  Philippines  is  now  eared  for  by  the  American 
Bible  Society;  while  that  in  Korea  has  passed  to  the 
charge  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

Strengthening  the  Governing  Body 

The  Board  strengthened  itself  by  the  addition  of 
eight  new  members  during  the  year,  among  them  being 
i  he  first  lady  managers  ever  elected.  Nine  new  Vice- 
Presidents  were  elected  in  1919,  increasing  the  num- 
ber of  states  and  communions  that  are  thus  repre- 
sented, and  bringing  to  the  Society  the  influence  and 
advice  of  leading  citizens  of  different  sections  of  the 
country.  Two  ladies  were  among  these — the  first 
lady  Vice-Presidents.  In  thus  electing  ladies  the 
Board  has  shown  itself  open  to,  and  abreast  of,  the 
ehanges  of  the  times. 

THE  ADVISORY  COMMITTEE 

One  of  the  most  important  advances  of  recent 
years  was  consummated  in  1919,  though  inaugurated 
earlier.  Action  had  been  taken  by  the  Board  for  the 
formation  of  an  Advisory  Committee,  consisting  of 
representatives  appointed  by  the  governing  bodies  of 
all  communions  or  denominations  contributing  to 
the  work  of  the  Society.  Its  function  is  to  advise  on 
and  recommend  the  1  >ndget  for  the  ensuing  year.  The 
first  meeting  of  this  Advisory  Committee  was  held  for 
two  days  in  November  with  the  Budget  Committee 
of  the  Board.  Estimates  from  the  Agencies  and  full 
information  were  placed  before  this  body.     The  Board 


*» 


J? 


PRESIDENT    EMERITUS    JAMES    WOOD 


77 


STORY    OF    THE 


adopted  the  budget  proposed.  Thus  the  contribu- 
ting bodies  have  a  direcl  and  vital  connection  with 
the  programme  of  the  Society.  In  1919  the  authori- 
ties of  the  Congregational,  Lutheran,  Methodist  and 
Methodist  South,  Presbyterian  U.  S.  A.  and  U.S.. 
Protestant  Episcopal,  Reformed  Church  in  America 
denominations  appointed  representatives.  Others 
have  aeted  since. 

OFFICERS,  STAFF,  AND  WORKERS 

Mr.  James  Wood,  President  since  1904,  retired  in 
the  spring  at  his  own  desire.  His  resignation  was 
accepted  with  deep  regret,  and  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent Emeritus. 

Mr.  Churchill  H.  Cutting,  a  Manager  of  the  Society 
from  1882,  and  Vice-President  since  1916.  was  elected 
President.  The  names  of  the  Vice-Presidents  and 
Managers  will  be  found,  with  the  other  officers,  on 
the  inner  cover  page. 

The  resignation  of  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Scudder,  of  the 
Eastern  Agency,  in  order  to  return  to  his  former  work- 
as  a  missionary  in  India,  led  to  the  only  change  in 
the  Agency  staff,  the  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Benson,  who 
had  seen  service  as  a  chaplain  in  the  United  States 
Army  during  the  war,  being  appointed  in  his  place. 

A  total  of  209  colporteurs  and  873  correspondents — 
or  1,082  workers — to  whom  should  be  added  792 
volunteers,  made  up  the  1,874  persons  who  shared 
in  the  important  and  gracious  work  of  circulating  the 
Scriptures.  In  the  Home  Agencies  there  were  71  col- 
porteurs, 201  correspondents,  and  315  volunteers; 
while  the  Foreign  Agencies  reported  130  colporteurs, 
669  correspondents,  and  454  volunteers,  foreign  cor- 
respondents in  other  lands  adding  23  volunteers  to 
the  total.  This  was  an  increase  in  correspondents 
and  volunteers  over  the  number  reported  the  previous 
year. 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  23 


III.  Distributing  Agencies 

AUXILIARY  BIBLE  SOCIETIES 

The  oldest  factor  in  distribution  has  been  the 
Auxiliary  Bible  Societies.  There  were  155  on  the 
roll  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  largest  number  being 
in  the  states  of  New  York,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  New 
Jersey,  and  Illinois,  in  the  order  named.  Some  of 
these  Auxiliaries  are  older  than  the  "parent  society" 
and  helped  to  form  it.  Their  purpose  throughout  the 
century  has  been  to  supply  local  needs,  and  to  con- 
tribute to  the  world-wide  work  of  the  American  Bible 
Society.  During  1919  they  so  contributed  $23,000. 
Three  in  New  York,  the  Duchess  County  Female,  the 
Orange  County,  and  the  Ulster  County,  Auxiliary 
Societies,  through  financial  contributions,  and  two  of 
them  through  active  co-operation  of  their  officers,  have 
assisted  in  the  maintenance  of  Bible  booths  at  county 
fairs.  The  State  Bible  Societies  of  Maine,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire,  co-operating 
with  the  American  Bible  Society,  have  circulations 
running  up  into  thousands  of  volumes  during  the  year. 

A  new  Auxiliary  was  organized  at  Orangeburg, 
S.  C,  and  two  dormant  Auxiliaries  were  resuscitated 
during  1919.  The  number  of  Auxiliaries,  however,  is 
decreasing.  But  this  does  not  mean  a  loss  of  friends 
so  much  as  that  the  support  of  these  friends  is  coming 
through  their  churches. 

VOLUNTEERS 

An  increasingly  important  factor  in  distribution  is 
the  volunteer  worker,  who  receives  no  remuneration 
from  the  Society.  Many  disasters  develop  blessings. 
The  enforced  reduction  of  employed  agencies  has  re- 
sulted in  the  multiplication  of  voluntary  workers. 
This  has  not  been  universal.     The  very  conditions 


24  STORY    OF    THE 

which  have  curtailed  the  ability  of  the  Society  to 
employ  workers,  have  likewise  curtailed  the  ability 
of  individuals  to  give  voluntary  service,  though  eager 
to  do  it.  Still  a  few  references  will  show  how  wide- 
spread and  varied  is  this  volunteer  service. 

A  Joy  and  Satisfaction 

A  factory  worker  in  the  South  Atlantic  Agency, 
who  so  loves  his  Bible  that  he  longs  that  others  should 
have  it,  has  given  odd  hours  to  the  distributing  of 
Scriptures  in  the  suburbs  of  his  town:  he  makes  it 
a  rule  never  to  leave  a  family  without  a  Bible,  whether 
they  have  money  or  not.  A  busy  minister  visited, 
without  compensation,  various  conferences  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  Bible  Society  work.  From  the  Pacific 
Coast  comes  word  that  "denominational  workers, 
interdenominational  agencies,  independent  self-sup- 
porting missionaries,  and  personal  workers  have  co- 
operated in  much  larger  numbers  in  this  work  during 
the  past  year — a  joy  and  satisfaction." 

Ministers  and  Laymen 

A  worker  in  Nevada  tells  of  pastors  who  have  ac- 
companied him  in  house-to-house  visitation,  and  of 
others  who  took  him  in  their  autos  to  sparsely  settled 
districts,  similar  help  being  also  rendered  by  church 
members.  A  layman  and  Sunday-school  secretary  of 
a  conference  in  the  state  of  Washington  spent  one 
hundred  days  and  traveled  two  thousand  miles,  with- 
out salary,  in  a  campaign  to  get  children  to  read  and 
memorize  Scripture  verses,  supplying  Scriptures  to 
all  who  were  in  need.  From  the  Southwest  we  learn 
of  home  missionaries  who  gladly  co-operate  in  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures;  of  individuals,  such  as 
a  proprietor  of  a  marble  factory  who  exhibited  and 
sold  Scriptures,  together  with  his  monuments  and 
tombstones;  of  a  mechanic  in  a  railway  shop  who 
stocked  Scriptures  in  his  tool  chest  and  gave  his  noon 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  25 

hours  to  circulating  them  among  his  mates;  of  a  busi- 
ness man  who  visited  the  sick  in  hospitals  and  won 
many  to  the  reading  of  the  Way. 


A  VOLUNTEER MR.    CAULKINS 

Preaching  and  distributing  Scriptures  on  the  streets  of  San  Francisco. 
(See  page  72 . ) 

Foreign  lands  send  a  like  story  of  volunteer  service. 
For  brevity  we  quote  only  from  two  Agencies. 

In  Vast  China 

Dr.  Hykes  reports  that  by  far  the  larger  number  of 
books  has  been  put  in  circulation  by  foreign  mission- 


26  STORY    OF    THE 

arics  and  voluntary  native  workers.  During  1919,  of 
967,381  books  they  distributed  831,850.  The  colpor- 
tage  of  the  great  Chihli  Plains  was  all  done  by 
voluntary  workers  connected  with  various  churches 
scattered  over  most  of  the  area.  Four  hundred 
missionaries  and  Christian  workers  arc  voluntarily 
circulating  the  Society's  books  from  not  less  than  the 
same  number  of  centers  scattered  over  the  whole  of 
Central  China.  Accounts  of  individual  volunteers 
are  too  numerous  for  reproduction  in  this  connection. 
A  Swedish  missionary  of  Hoyang  writes:  "I  think 
we  must  give  the  voluntary  distributers  and  the 
American  Bible  Society  the  credit  for  bringing  to  us 
most  of  the  157  persons  who  have  been  baptized  in 
this  district  this  year." 

Filipinos  Setting  the  Pace 

In  the  Philippines  the  voluntary  workers,  likewise, 
have  been  an  increasingly  prominent  factor.  They 
are  chiefly  church  members  enrolled  for  special  cam- 
paigns lasting  for  several  days  in  a  specific  region. 
"In  every  instance  where  a  church  has  so  assumed 
and  put  through  a  Bible  campaign,  it  has  gained 
in  influence  in  the  community,  and  those  par- 
ticipating in  the  campaign  have  been  aroused  and 
strengthened  for  personal  service.  It  furnishes  a 
point  of  contact — an  opportunity  for  the  members 
to  "do  something" — that  absolutely  necessary  condi- 
tion for  healthy  growth  and  development.  Many 
churches  are  now  awaiting  larger  shipments  of  Scrip- 
tures, and  they  will  take  up  this  same  method  of 
propaganda  in  the  communities  for  which  they  are 
beginning  to  feel  a  responsibility." 

The  desirability  and  value  of  volunteers  in  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Scriptures  is  indeed  very  real.  The 
possibilities  of  such  service  are  immense. 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY 


27 


COLPORTEURS     A  TRIBUTE 


OLPORTEURS,     however, 

are  the  historic  and  still 
the  most  vital  factors 
in  Scripture  distribu- 
tion. The  colporteur  de- 
serves a  tribute  if  any 
phase  of  Bible  circulation 
does.  The  word,  original- 
ly meaning  a  hawker  or 
peddler  - —  some  one 
carrying  his  wares  sus- 
pended around  his  neck 
—has  come  to  mean, 
technically,  one  who  goes 
about  disposing  of  Scrip- 
tures at  a  low  rate,  or 
gratuitously.  A  "book 
agent"  is  not  generally 
thought  to  have  an  en- 
viable task.  But  physic- 
ally and  financially  it  is 
a  sinecure  compared  with 
that  of  the  colporteur. 
The  book  agent  usually 
has  to  carry  about  a 
sample,  taking  orders, 
and  filling  them  later; 
he  ordinarily  visits  only  the  larger  centers;  and  he 
has,  as  a  rule,  a  large  margin  for  profit.  The  col- 
porteur, on  the  contrary,  must  carry  his  wares  with 
him;  a  large  and  important  part  of  his  work  is  in 
sparsely  settled  regions;  he  makes  no  profit;  his 
remuneration  is  usually  a  very  modest  one — so  mod- 
est that  one  wonders  how  the  colporteur  manages 
to  live.  The  value  of  volunteer  workers  has  been  em- 
phasized and  is  gladly  recognized.     The  importance 


'The  colporteurs  tramping  through 
countrysides  or  traveling  by  every 
sort  of  conveyance,  in  every  sort 
of  land,  carrying  with  them  little 
cargoes  of  books  containing  the 
Word  of  God,  and  spreading  them, 
seem  like  the  shuttles  in  a  great 
loom  that  is  weaving  the  spirits 
of  men  together." — President 
Wilson,  at  the  Centennial  of  the 
American  Bible  Society. 


28  STORY    OF    THE 

and  need  of  this  service  is  great.  May  the  number 
of  volunteers  grow! 

But  it  is  the  colporteur,  after  all,  who  is  the  back- 
bone of  vScripture  circulation  Volunteers  must  be 
used  where  they  live.  Colporteurs  go  into  regions 
where  there  are  no  volunteers;  such  regions  exist  both 
in  the  home  field  and  especially  in  foreign  lands;  and 
they  are  often  the  most  needy. 

Those  who  think  that  the  colporteurs'  work  is  sim- 
ply the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  have  an  inade- 
quate conception  of  what  colporteurs  do,  what  they 
undergo,  and  what  their  chief  remuneration  is.  This 
is  not  the  time  or  place  to  present  an  essay  on  the 
subject.  But  it  may  help  to  a  juster  conception  if, 
from  the  reports  of  this  single  year,  facts  and  incidents 
are  brought  together  showing  what  colporteurs  do  and 
undergo. 

What  the  Colporteur  Does 

Of  course,  the  main  purpose  and  effort  is  to  circu- 
late the  Scriptures.  But  it  is  not  the  effort  simply  of 
a  salesman.  It  is  the  varied,  tactful,  untiring  effort 
of  one  who  believes  thoroughly  in  the  efficacy  and 
the  blessing  which  characterize  the  article  he  dispenses 
—of  one  who  yearns  to  do  good  to  those  whom  he 
visits.  So  we  find  that  the  colporteur  not  only  sells 
books,  but  he  reads  to  those  who  cannot  read,  and 
thus  brings  to  them  the  truths  of  God's  Word;  or  he 
marks  passages  in  books  he  leaves,  so  that  any  neigh- 
bor, reading,  may  bring  home  special  truths. 

Tact  is  developed.  One,  sitting  in  a  Hungarian 
Catholic  church  in  Chicago,  takes  his  Bible  out  of  his 
pocket  and  shows  it  to  his  neighbor,  telling  him  what 
a  great  help  and  comfort  it  is,  and  the  joy  of  a  Chris- 
tian's life:  the  man  buys  and  later  comes  to  enjoy 
and  love  his  Bible.  Another  finds  a  lady  buying  a 
cake  from  a  baker's  wagon,  and  a  purchase  of  a  Bible 
results  as- he  tactfully  offers  the  Bread  of  Life.     A 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  29 

man  goes  into  a  depository  and  in  broken  English 
assails  the  Bible  because  "it  contains  lies":  patience 
and  tact  send  him  out  a  little  later,  having  purchased 
a  Bible  with  the  promise:  "I  vill  read."  A  colpor- 
teur, on  his  way  with  other  vendors  to  a  county  fair, 
arouses  their  interest  by  saying  that  he  has  a  choice 
lot  of  pocket  mirrors  with  telescope  attachments,  and 
when,  later,  in  curiosity  they  come  to  his  booth  to 
see  his  wares,  he  reads  them  James  1 :  23-24,  and 
Isaiah  45:  22,  and  a  sale  is  made. 

Methods  of  approach  and  of  action  are  sought. 
One  reports  that  he  always  begins  his  work  on  the 
outskirts  of  a  town  and  works  toward  the  center, 
asking  each  family  he  visits  to  tell  their  neighbors  of 
the  nature  of  his  work.  This  he  finds  paves  the 
way,  and  often  leads  to  his  being  called  into  homes 
to  show  his  stock.  There  are  some  whose  devotion 
has  led  not  only  to  giving  their  own  time  at  a  mini- 
mum salary,  but  also  to  the  giving  of  their  own  means 
and  property.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  thus  carried  on  their  work  through  their  own 
automobile.  More  recently,  equipped  with  an  auto 
wagon  fitted  out  with  all  necessary  sleeping  and  cook- 
ing facilities,  they  have  made  extensive  journeys  and 
accomplished  notable  distribution — $200  worth  a 
month — Mr.  Johnson  making  addresses  in  churches, 
Sunday  schools,  and  missions.  Mr.  Zimmerman, 
equipped  with  a  "gospel  boat,"  as  he  calls  it,  has 
visited  316  ships  and  distributed  418  Bibles  and 
Testaments  and  6,791  Gospels  on  them.  Interesting 
details  of  this  work  will  be  found  in  the  Pacific  Agency 
report.  So,  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  colporteurs  have 
used  many  methods :  the  gospel  car,  the  motor  boat, 
and  the  county  fair  among  them.  Down  on  the 
Mexican  border  two  colporteurs  met  with  such  success 
and  aroused  such  interest  that  a  public  meeting  was 
advertised  in  the  principal  plaza  of  Laredo,  and  a 
large  sale  of  Scriptures  resulted  therefrom. 


^0  STORY    OF    THE    AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY 

That  colporteurs  are  not  mercenary  is  shown  by 
many  instances  where,  without  seeking  to  effect 
sales,  they  have  visited  the  sick,  prayed  with  those 
in  sorrow,  reasoned  with  those  who  were  losing  their 
faith,  brought  fresh  hope  and  purpose  to  many  down- 
cast, and  others  outcast,  often  giving  away  Scriptures 
out  of  their  own  already  scant  funds. 

They  stir  others  to  action.  We  read  of  a  saloon- 
keeper  and  his  termagant  wife  won  to  interest  in  re- 
ligion and  becoming  the  channels  of  selling  Scriptures 
to  others;  of  a  highly  educated  man  interested  in  the 
Truth,  and,  through  his  co-operation  and  that  of 
thirty  others,  a  mission  being  started. 

They  give  themselves  to  special  tasks.  We  learn 
of  an  earnest  colporteur  and  his  wife  aiming  to  have 
every  child  in  their  territory  receive  a  Testament; 
of  an  earnest  Scandinavian  colporteur,  who,  during 
years  of  his  work,  has  supplied  thousands  of  English 
dictionaries  and  copies  of  the  United  States  Constitu- 
tion and  naturalization  primers  to  immigrants,  hav- 
ing always  insisted  that  every  one  living  in  America 
should  learn  the  English  language;  of  colporteurs 
who  can  use  eight  and  nine  languages  and  are  de- 
voting this  wonderful  linguistic  gift  toward  helping 
win  peoples  of  these  languages  to  our  country  and  to 
our  Christ.  At  the  request  of  the  pastors,  a  house- 
to-house  canvass  of  Covington,  Ky.,  was  made,  sell- 
ing Scriptures  and  obtaining  for  church  and  Sunday- 
school  workers  information  about  the  church  affilia- 
tion of  the  families.  One  colporteur  reports  bringing 
the  work  of  the  Society  before  4  Presbyterian,  4 
Evangelical,  3  Congregational,  5  Methodist,  and  7 
Reformed  Church  of  America  churches,  also  before 
2  Ministerial  Unions,  he  having  also  in  nine  months 
traveled  6,253  miles  and  visited  7,338  families.  An- 
other says:  "I  have  kept  record  and  in  walks  and 
trips  by  train  I  have  traveled  2,417  miles,  stood  before 
the  doors  of  3,895  homes,  and  distributed  717  Bibles, 


The  Book  of  Cheer  for  the  Lonely  Ranchers 


32  STORY    OF    THE 

1,486  Testaments,  and  342  portions  by  sale,  and  57 
Bibles,  119  Testaments,  and  90  portions  by  gift, 
nearly  all  of  them  placed,  one  by  one,  in  an  out- 
stretched hand." 

That  Sunday  schools  and  churches  have  resulted  from 
colporteur's  work  is  a  commonplace  of  Home  Missions. 
Every  Annual  Report  has  instances.  The  Eastern 
Agency  report  tells  this  year  of  three  missions  re- 
sulting from  one  colporteur's  labor. 

So  far  only  instances  from  the  Home  field  have 
been  given.  More  will  be  found  not  only-  in  the 
Home  Agency  reports  which  follow,  but  also  in  the 
Foreign  Agency  reports.  Here  let  a  single  quotation 
from  one  Foreign  Agency  suffice. 

Mr.  Jordan,  who  has  been  getting  acquainted  with 
his  new  field  of  Central  America,  writing  of  the  work 
in  Salvador,  says :  "As  in  most  of  the  fields  of  Central 
America,  the  pioneer  work  here  was  done  by  the 
Bible  Society";  and  on  visiting  the  old  lady  who  was 
the  first  convert  in  Honduras,  and  that  through  Bible 
circulation,  he  adds:  "In  no  other  country  that  I 
know  of  are  such  large  proportions  of  the  Evangelical 
groups  the  direct  results  of  the  work  of  the  Bible 
colporteurs  as  in  Honduras." 

What  Colporteurs  Undergo 

That  the  colporteurs  are  not  in  this  work  for  per- 
sonal gain  is  clear.  That  they  are  not  in  it  for  per- 
sonal glory  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  so  seldom 
mention  personal  hardships.  Yet  one  reading  be- 
tween the  lines  cannot  but  admire  the  devotion  of 
those  who  work  under  such  handicaps.  Here  and 
there  difficulties  are  mentioned.  One  casually  reports 
that  he  was  working  in  a  territory  where  trains  run 
only  once  in  two  days;  a  region  where  settlements 
disappear  and  spring  up  with  such  frequency  that 
maps  are  not  up  to  date,  and  where  often  heavy  loads 
of  books  are  carried  on  futile  journeys.     Another, 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  33 

traveling  in  lonely  regions  with  his  Bible  wagon, 
caught  at  the  end  of  the  day  with  no  place  for  shelter, 
was  turned  away  by  the  owner  of  the  only  house 
anywhere  in  the  neighborhood  and  even  threatened 
with  a  shotgun  when  he  attempted  to  camp  for  the 
night  under  the  shelter  of  a  neighboring  tree. 

The  changing  form  of  city  life  and  development  of 
flats  and  apartments  have  greatly  handicapped  the 
C(  >lp<  >rteur,  who  finds  access  very  difficult.  Even  out 
in  the  country  regions  the  cost  of  living  seems  to 
have  closed  the  doors  of  hospitality.  And  yet, 
"faithful,  patient,  and  uncomplaining,  they  have 
faced  tremendous  odds,  and,  in  spite  of  hardships 
peculiarly  trying,  they  have  never  wearied  in  their 
task  of  sowing  the  good  seed,"  as  one  of  the  Agency 
Secretaries  writes  of  his  colporteurs. 

Because  of  reduced  appropriations,  a  colporteur 
could  no  longer  be  employed  even  on  the  modest 
salary  of  $70  a  month.  He  was  eagerly  taken  by  an 
insurance  company  at  $200  a  month  because  he  could 
sell  insurance  in  nine  tongues.  And  yet  it  is  testified 
that  this  man's  heart  is  in  the  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures  and  he  would  fain  return  to  that  work. 
Slapped  in  the  face  by  a  young  man  on  entering  a 
barber  shop,  a  colporteur  makes  no  complaint,  but 
a  year  later  rejoices  when  this  same  young  man  is 
converted,  and  himself  becomes  a  witness  for  the 
gospel. 

Both  modesty  and  indifference  seem  responsible 
for  many  a  colporteur's  bearing  in  silence  difficulties, 
hardships,  and  handicaps,  and  going  through  experi- 
ences which  are  unusual.  Even  when  called  on  to 
tell  of  their  experiences,  the  answer  too  often  comes 
that  there  was  "nothing  worth  reporting."  Two 
examples.  Of  one  worker,  from  whom  report  had 
been  sought  in  vain  because  there  was  "no  story  to 
tell,"  an  Agency  Secretary  learns  finally  the  follow- 
ing:   The  worker  had  been  caught  in  a  cloudburst, 

3 


34  STORY    OF    THE 

which  had  carried  away  his  buggy  and  stock  of 
Scriptures  and  almost  taken  his  life.  He  had  been 
waylaid  and  beaten  because  he  had  not  heeded  a 
ruffian's  command  to  leave  town.  Dogs  had  set 
upon  him,  and  his  face  had  been  permanently  dis- 
figured. But — "nothing  had  happened  worth  re- 
porting." Another  failed  to  respond  to  requests  for 
report  on  his  work,  because  he  thought  there  was 
"nothing  to  report."  When  personally  visited,  the 
following  was  elicited :  A  little  girl  was  seen  standing 
shyly  outside  of  a  church,  listening  to  the  singing. 
She  would  not  go  in  nor  respond  to  any  advances. 
A  Gospel  in  her  own  language  was  given  to  her.  Sev- 
eral weeks  later,  the  mother  and  daughter  timidly 
entered  the  church;  later,  a  grown  son;  then,  a  mar- 
ried daughter;  and,  finally,  the  father  came.  Before 
the  year  was  over,  the  entire  family  was  received  into 
the  church,  and,  through  them,  some  neighbors — all 
the  result  of  one  little  Gospel.  And  yet  there  was 
"nothing  to  report." 

The  Colporteur's  Remuneration 

What  is  it  that  inspires  those  employed  as  colpor- 
teurs, and  voluntary  workers  also,  to  do  this  difficult 
work?  Reading  the  records  with  this  question  in 
mind  one  begins  to  realize  that  with  them  it  is  as  with 
Christ  of  old :  "I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not." 

Only  those  engaged  in  this  service  know  the  sweet 
reward  that  it  brings.  Here  is  one  who  worked  and 
walked  all  day,  carrying  his  heavy  pack,  and,  as  the 
evening  drew  on,  had  not  disposed  of  a  single  volume. 
Shall  he  desist?  Surely  the  ordinary  hawker  would 
have  ceased.  But  he,  impelled  by  a  higher  purpose, 
continued;  and  compensation  came  in  finding  a  pur- 
chaser who  bought  ten,  and  a  neighbor  who  bought 
his  two  best  Bibles.  Another,  on  a  cold  day,  stand- 
ing out  on  the  street  selling  his  wares,  thinks,  as 
darkness   comes   on,    that   he   should    retire   to   the 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  35 

warmth  of  his  room.  But  something  impels  him  to 
continue.  At  seven  in  the  evening  an  old  lady  comes 
to  buy  a  Bible.  "I  have  come  to  buy  not  for  myself, 
but  for  another  " ;  and  he  feels  recompensed  as  he  thus 
has  been  the  means  of  helping  in  this  good  purpose. 

A  colporteur  gives  Testaments  to  two  passing  poor 
children  on  the  understanding  that  they  will  read 


A    HUNGARIAN    FATHER    AND    HIS    CHILDREN 

Won  to  a  Christian  life  by  a  colporteur — the  best  kind  of  Americanization. 

them.  An  onlooker  exclaims,  "Well,  that  was  fine; 
I  want  to  pay  for  those  Testaments,"  and  this  col- 
porteur feels  rewarded.  A  barefooted  boy,  turn- 
ing his  pocket  inside  out,  finds  only  4  cents  and  gets 
an  8-cent  Testament.  The  colporteur  is  made  happy 
as  he  receives  the  sweet  surprise  of  the  benediction, 
"Thank  you,  sir,  and  God  bless  you."  A  poor  girl, 
looking  wistfully  at  a  little  Testament,  has  no  money, 


36  STORY    OF    THE 

but  is  willing  to  give  her  only  trinket,  a  finger  ring; 
and  the  colporteur's  heart  is  warmed  as  he  is  able 
both  to  let  her  have  the  Testament  and  keep  her  ring. 
A  lame  cripple  in  a  lonely  house  becomes  interested 
in  Scripture  truths  and  cheers  the  colporteur  by  walk- 
ing several  miles  to  get  the  Bible  he  wants.  A  man 
buys  two  Bibles  in  large  type  to  send  to  home  folks 
in  another  slate,  and  the  colporteur  realizes  that  lie  is 
thus  a  means  of  blessing  to  others  far  away.  A  father 
buys  a  Testament  and  hands  it  to  his  son  with  the  state- 
ment that  "this  is  the  best  gift  I  can  make  to  you." 

A  converted  Jew  helps  the  colporteur  in  his  work. 
A  cordial  greeting  from  an  utter  stranger,  as  the 
colporteur  goes  on  his  uncheered  way,  fills  his  heart 
with  joy.  A  glad  wife  reminds  the  colporteur  of  a 
previous  call  five  years  before,  when,  as  the  result 
of  a  long  talk,  her  husband  becomes  a  lover  of  the 
Bible  and  now  points  to  it  as  the  choice  of  all  his 
library.  At  a  logging  camp,  a  colporteur  is  cheered 
when,  having  appointed  a  time  and  place  and  not 
arriving,  he  is  sent  for,  and  bought  out  of  his  stock 
by  the  rough  lumberjacks.  An  old  Croatian  lady 
exclaims:  "Oh,  my  own  language!  Now  I  can  read 
when  I  am  lonesome.  If  I  had  money,  I  would 
give  one  dollar — two  dollars — most  anything  for  it!" 

A  fine-looking  Frenchman  grasps  the  colporteur's 
hands:  "Seven  years  ago,  I  bought  a  French  Testa- 
ment from  you  in  Tacoma,  and  I  found  Jesus  through 
it."  A  boy  in  a  Mormon  family  buys  a  Bible  and,  a 
year  later,  states  that  he  is  going  to  study  for  the 
Presbyterian  ministry.  A  colporteur  in  the  South- 
west reports:  "A  minister  told  me  that  at  Lafourche 
a  mission  church  of  two  hundred  members  was  the 
direct  result  of  the  visit  of  a  colporteur  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  who  canvassed  the  town  with  the 
Scriptures."  Another  colporteur,  who  held  meetings 
regularly  at  a  police  station,  rejoices  over  some  forty 
conversions  and  the  placing  of  800  Gospels  and  Testa- 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  37 

ments  among  the  prisoners.  And  so  the  glad  story 
goes.  Then  there  is  the  encouragemenl  which  comes 
through  the  co-operation  of  others.  A  mechanic  in 
a  shop  sets  aside  pari  of  his  tool-chest  as  a  Bible 
depository,  and  helps,  at  the  noon  hour,  to  supply  his 
fellow-mechanics  with  Scriptures.  The  pastors  of 
Tampa  give  the  colporteurs  cordial  reception  and  offer 
words  of  help  whenever  asked.  A  busy  pastor — 
active  himself  in  Scripture  circulation — writes  in  a 
letter:  "Next  to  the  grace  of  God — not  excepting  the 
preaching  of  the  Word — I  count  the  work  of  the  col- 
porteur the  most  effective  means  that  God  is  using 
to-day  in  the  reclamation  of  lost  men,  women,  and 
children."  A  patient  in  a  city  hospital,  asking  her 
doctor  if  he  had  a  good  book  for  her  to  read,  is  sur- 
prised by  the  reply,  "Yes,  I  have  the  best  book  there 
is.  I  wonder  if  you  have  ever  read  it — the  Bible?" 
And  she  replies:  "You  are  the  first  person  who  has 
spoken  to  me  of  reading  the  Bible  in  five  years."  Fol- 
lowing his  advice,  she  reads  the  New  Testament,  and 
then  the  Old.  Is  there  not  remuneration  in  such  facts  ? 
Sidelights  on  the  results  of  prohibition  have  also 
proved  encouraging.  One  colporteur  in  the  mining 
regions  of  Pennsylvania  reports  that  in  prohibition 
days  the  colporteur  feels  very  much  safer;  he  is  no 
longer  subject  to  sudden  attacks;  but  adds,  as  a  fact, 
though  not  regretting  the  cause,  that  it  is  harder  now 
to  get  men  to  talk  on  religious  matters,  since  they 
talk  more  easily  on  such  subjects  when  intoxicated! 
In  far  Nevada  it  is  found  that  conditions  have  greatly 
improved  since  prohibition  was  instituted.  Slum 
districts  are  becoming  things  of  the  past;  the  towns 
are  clean  and  more  quiet;  and  business  is  steadily 
improving;  men  seem  more  hopeful  and  are  taking 
hold  of  business  with  a  firmer  grasp.  In  the  South- 
west prisons  are  empty,  and  many  counties  have  no 
pauper  institution.  The  Fort  Smith  jail  was  found 
open  and  only  two  negro  boys  in  it,  where  formerly 


38  STORY    OF    THE 

ii  had  been  "so  full  of  men  and  boys  that  you  could 
almost  see  it  breathe." 

The  Only  Sufficient  Inducement 

A  colporteur  who  has  given  19  years  to  this  hard 
work,  and  consecrated  his  talent  of  speaking  8  and 
reading  3  other  languages  to  it,  surely  can  speak  with 
authority.  Facing  an  approaching  winter  he  wrote: 
"Every  door  will  be  tightly  closed,  and  I  shall  have 
to  wait  patiently  before  each  one,  either  to  be  let  in 
or  told  to  go  away.  A  colporteur  must  work  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  people  who  need  the 
Word  of  God.  No  other  reason  would  be  sufficient 
to  induce  him  to  undergo  what  he  really  has  to,  every 
day  and  every  month.  Love  to  God  and  man  is  the 
only  sufficient  inspiration  for  the  work." 

And  the  greatest  encouragement  and  reward  of  all 
is  the  most  frequent — the  turning  of  men  and  women, 
through  the  reading  of  the  Word,  to  Him  who  is  the 
Living  Word.  Many  wonderful  instances  are  given 
under  the  topic  of  "The  Unaided  vScriptures,"  and 
many  others  appear  in  the  individual  Agency  posts. 
Yes,  in  this  way  the  remuneration  is  real  and  rich. 
Truly  the  colporteur  has  "meat  to  eat  which  others 
know  not." 

FOUR  NOTABLE  ASPECTS  OF  THE  YEAR'S  WORK 

The  twenty  Agency  and  other  reports,  of  course, 
vary.  But  on  reading  all,  one  is  impressed  with  aspects 
that  are  common  and  worthy  of  special  attention. 
Four  will  now  be  presented  with  necessary  brevity. 

MEETING  AMERICA'S  PROBLEM   AND  MENACE 

The  reports  reveal  that  colporteurs  are  peculiarly 
in  touch  with  what  is  transpiring  throughout  our  great 
country.  They  observe  and  think.  They  sec  Ameri- 
ca's danger.  They  are  near  the  people.  They  know 
conditions.     They  know  what  is  engaging  the  thought, 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  39 

what  is  being  read,  what  is  being  said.  They  realize 
how  many  languages  are  being  spoken.  They  know 
how  slowly  many  great  groups  of  foreigners  are  drop- 
ping their  foreign  languages,  literature,  life,  and 
thought.  They  come  in  contact  with  many  groups 
who  are  deliberately  not  dropping  the  old;  who  have 
come  over  embittered  by  their  experiences  in  the 
homeland,  cherishing  hatred  and  evil  thought,  sowing 
the  baneful  seed  of  unbelief  and  suspicion  and  jeal- 
ousy and  hatred. 

What  problems  and  what  menace  lie  in,  and  be- 
hind, such  facts  as  these  reported  by  a  single  Agency : 

' '  The  foreign  population  dwelling  in  Chicago  may  be 
divided  as  follows:  Germans,  399,977;  Poles,  231,346; 
Swedes,  118,000;  Italians,  108,000;  Bohemians, 
102,000;  Lithuanians,  25,000;  Austrians,  58,000; 
Hungarians,  32,000;  Hollanders,  17,000;  Russians, 
16,600;  Croatians,  7,000;  Roumanians,  10,000; 
Greeks,  9,000;   Colored  people,  175,000.  *  *  * 

"During  fifteen  days'  work  in  South  Omaha,  the 
cash  sales  were  over  one  hundred  dollars;  the  distri- 
bution was  294  volumes  in  the  following  languages: 
Bohemian,  Bulgarian,  Chinese,  Croatian,  Danish, 
French,  German,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Hungarian,  Italian, 
Japanese,  Lithuanian,  Norwegian,  Polish,  Rouma- 
nian, Russian,  Servian,  Spanish,  and  Swedish — making 
twenty  different  languages.  There  were  147  volumes 
in  foreign  languages,  and  147  in  English.  Forty  Bible- 
less  homes  were  furnished.  *  *  * 

"  A  recent  issue  of  the  Detroit  Methodist  is  given  over 
to  a  discussion  of  the  question  of  Christianizing  these 
people.  They  give  a  list  of  thirty  groups  of  foreigners 
and  show  the  growth  in  the  past  four  years.  I  quote 
only  a  few  groups:  Germans  150,000,  Poles  125,000, 
Jews  40,000,  Hungarians  and  Magyars  30,000,  Rou- 
manians 28,000,  Russians  28,000,  Italians  40,000, 
Czechoslovaks  15,000,  Greeks  8,000,  Syrians  12,000, 
and  Turks  (Kurds)  2,000.     There  is  also  a  colony  of 


40 


.STORY    OF    THE 


Brazilians  and  large  groups  from  other  South  American 
states.  *  *  * 

"  In  1910  there  were  6,000  negroes  in  Detroit.  In  the 
past  months  they  have  been  coming  in  at  the  rate 
of  300  per  week  and  now  number  over  60,000.  *  *  * 

"It  is  estimated  that  there  is  an  increase  of  15,000 
in  the  foreign  population  each  year." 

A  single  colporteur  in  Detroit  circulated  the 
Scriptures  in  31  languages,  though  only  30  languages 
had  been  listed  in  a  careful  survey  of  the  population. 

This  problem  and  menace  is  true  not  of  large  cities 
alone.  For  example,  in  a  small  town  in  Ohio  there 
were  found  5,000  Roumanians,  3,000  Italians,  2,000 
Greeks,  800  Hungarians,  700  Finns,  150  Slavs,  and 
50  Turks,  besides  a  number  of  other  nationalities. 
One  would  not  expect  such  conditions  on  the  shores 
of  Florida,  and  yet  testimony  is  that  Tampa  has  be- 
come a  cosmopolitan  city.  Over  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
the  Scriptures  were  circulated  during  1919  in  64  lan- 
guages. One  can  hardly  realize  what  lies  behing  those 
figures.     Read  the  list. 


The  64  Languages  Used  by  One  Agency  in  Scripture 
Circulation 


Albanian 

Hebrew 

Russian 

Arabic 

Hungarian 

Ruthenian 

Armenian 

(Ancient) 

Ibanaz 

Servian 

Armenian 

(Modern) 

Ilocano 

Slavic 

Armeno-T 

urkish 

Irish 

Slovak 

Bicol 

Italian 

Slovenian 

Bohemian 

Japanese 

Spanish 

Bohemian 

-Slovak 

Korean 

Swedish 

Bulgarian 

Latin 

Syriac  (Ancient) 

Chinese 

Lettish 

Syriac  (Modern) 

Croatian 

Lithuanian 

Tagalog 

Danish 

Malay 

Turkish 

Dutch 

Marshall  Islands 

Urdu 

English 

Norwegian 

Welsh 

Esperanto 

Pampanga 

Yiddish 

Esthonian 

Panayan 

( 'liinese-Mandarin 

Finnish 

Pangasinan 

Chinese-Cantonese 

Flemish 

Panjabi 

Chinese-Wenli  Union 

French 

Persian 

Version 

German 

Polish 

Chinese-Wenli     Dele- 

Greek 

Portuguese 

gates  Version 

Hawaiian 

Islands 

Roumanian 

Scriptures   for  Blind 

AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  41 

Down  in  the  Southwest  the  Scriptures  were  circulated 
in  40  languages;  while  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  33  are 
listed. 

But  it  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  different  languages 
and  strange  peoples  and  old  customs  and  foreign 
habits.  These  same  watchmen  on  the  walls  report 
that  atheism  has  not  only  come  with  the  foreigner,  but 
is  being  spread  by  and  among,  these  same  strange  and 
alien  groups.  "Every  atheist  instinctively  fight  the 
Bible  and  the  church."  Bolshevism  is  also  a  menace 
from  within  our  borders,  we  are  told  by  our  watch- 
men. "The  first  aim  of  the  Bolshevist  is  to  make 
you  doubt  God,  your  neighbor,  and  yourself."  Space 
will  not  permit  enlargement  on  these  and  related 
menaces  and  problems. 

And  our  colporteurs  are  doing  more  than  simply 
discover  and  reveal  the  problem  and  menace.  Through 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  they  are  sending  out 
the  greatest  unifying  influence  for  good  in  the  world. 
This  is  the  one  great  book,  or  one  great  library — term 
it  which  you  please — in  all  languages.  That  is  why 
the  government  uses  it  at  immigrant  stations  to  test 
literacy.  Read  by  peoples  from  many  lands,  in  many 
languages,  it  is  teaching  them  to  think  the  same 
thoughts — the  thoughts  of  heaven  and  of  brotherhood, 
the  thoughts  of  good  and  of  love  and  of  service.  It 
is  a  wonderful  help  the  colporteurs  are  rendering 
America.  When  one  man  can  report  the  sale  of 
1,400  Spanish  Scriptures  in  15  days,  and  another 
states  that  he  sold  $1,000  worth  of  Roumanian  Scrip- 
tures in  one  city;  when  the  result  of  a  year's  work 
shows  that  the  Scriptures  have  been  actually  put  in 
circulation  throughout  the  United  States  alone  in 
86  languages  and  5  systems  of  Scriptures  for  the 
blind — surely  it  is  a  wonderful  service  to  our  country 
that  is  being  rendered. 

The  colporteurs  are  also  actively  meeting  the 
problem   and  menace   in   other  ways.     As   they  go 


42  STORY    OF    THE 

about  will)  their  Scriptures,  with  their  faith  and  pur- 
pose and  love  they  are  not  silent.  Here  a  little  and 
there  a  little,  they  sow  the  seeds  of  character  which 
make  for  good  citizenship.  Here  one  teaches  a  for- 
eigner to  read  the  Scriptures  in  his  mother  tongue. 
Here  another  is  teaching  a  newcomer  to  read  English. 
There  one  helps  in  sorrow  or  distress,  and  there  again 
he  combats  the  evil  or  foolish  arguments  that  seek 
to  destroy  the  basis  of  our  civilization.  And  these 
colporteurs,  happily  in  many  cases,  go  not  as  strangers. 
The  Italian  takes  the  Scriptures  to  his  fellow  Italians ; 
the  Armenian  to  the  Armenians;  the  Chinaman  to 
the  Chinese;  the  Russian  Jew  to  those  of  Russia 
and  Hebrew  thought ;  the  Scandinavian  to  the  people 
of  his  tongue;  the  Greek  to  the  Greeks;  the  Slav  to 
the  Slavs.  Not  a  few  use  more  than  one  language  and 
exert  a  wade  influence.  What  a  wide  field  the  Rev. 
F.  K.  Ringsmuth  can  cover  with  the  nine  languages 
and  dialects  which  he  speaks,  down  in  our  South- 
western area ;  or  Mr.  John  Gay  in  the  mining  regions 
of  Pennsylvania  with  his  speaking  knowledge  of 
eight  dialects  and  ability  to  read  three  others. 
Imbued  with  the  love  of  God's  Word,  and  the  love 
of  country,  how  gladly  and  loyally  these  men  are 
working  for  true  Americanization,  and  helping 
thereby  to  solve  America's  problem  and  meet  her 
menace ! 

REACTION  ON  HOME  COUNTRIES 

In  this  connection  we  may  emphasize  another 
happy  outgrowth  of  Scripture  circulation  among  the 
people  of  foreign  tongues  within  our  borders.  From 
the  Atlantic  and  from  the  Pacific,  from  the  Central 
states,  the  great  Northwest  and  the  Southern  shores 
comes  testimony  that  those  thus  reached  and  won 
are  not  only  helping  to  circulate  the  Scriptures  among 
their  compatriots  in  this  land — e.  g.,  the  Roumanian 
who  sold  $1,000  worth  of  Roumanian  Scriptures  to  his 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY 


43 


compatriots  in  one  Ohio  city — but  they  are  sending 
or  taking  the  same  good  news  to  the  people  in  the 
old  countries.  A  Syrian  placed  an  order  for  200 
Syriac  Bibles  in  beautiful  binding  to  take  them  back 
to  his  native  land.  Contingents  of  Czechoslovakian 
troops,  returning  from  Siberia  through  the  United 
States  to  their  native  land,  were  equipped  by  fellow- 
countrymen  in  America  with  2,500  copies  of  American 
Bible  Society  Bohemian  or  Czech  Scriptures.  Ital- 
ians, Greeks,  Armenians,  Scandinavians,  and  those 
from  Balkan  States  are  sending  Scriptures  in  their 
languages  to  their  home  lands;  while  returning 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Hindus  and  others  take  the  Scrip- 
tures to  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Sea. 

It  would  seem,  as  an 
Agency  Secretary  remarks, 
that  whereas,  formerly,  at 
large  expense  Christian 
w<  >rkers  were  sent  to  knock 
at  closed  ports  in  foreign 
lands,  now  the  ends  of  the 
earth  are  flooding  to  the 
United  States  and  the  re- 
turning tide  takes  back 
with  it  the  blessed  Word 
of  God,  to  which  ports  and 
homes  are  gladly  opened 
because  it  comes  from  fel- 
low-countrvmen. 


THE  ACCOMPLISHMENT 
OF  THE  UNAIDED 
SCRIPTURES 

The  simple  reading  of 
the  Old,  Old  Story,  un- 
accompanied by  human 
exhortation  or  explana- 
tion, continues  to  win  its 


CHIEF    MANITOWOG 
Won    by  reading    the    Bible  in   the 
Tombs  and  Sing  Sing  prisons.   (See 
A.  B.  S.  leaflet:  "  An    American 
Indian  on  a  New  Trail.") 


44  STORY    OF    THE 

readers  to  the  Christian  life.  The  reports  for  1919 
show  many  incidents  of  this  result  from  the  circu- 
lation of  the  Scriptures.  We  will  save  space  and 
should  gain  impressiveness  by  again  limiting  ourselves 
to  quotations  from  just  two  Agencies,  and  these  in 
non-Christian  lands.  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  *  *  *  so  is  everyone  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 

John  3:16  In  South  America 

The  report  of  the  La  Plata  Agency  is  particularly 
full  of  results  of  the  simple  reading  of  the  Scriptures : 

"The  eyes  of  an  old  man  fell  oh  the  words  of 
John  3:  16.  They  were  like  a  call  from  heaven, 
and  he  could  not  get  rid  of  them.  No  matter  how 
much  he  was  trying  to  forget  them,  they  always  re- 
turned to  his  mind.  He  knew  that  they  were  of  the 
Bible,  and  so  he  bought  one  and  began  diligently  to 
search  for  them.  He  said  to  me,  '  I  am  so  happy  now ! 
God  spoke  to  me  in  this  Book.  Each  time  I  read  my 
New  Testament,  it  seems  to  me  as  though  Christ 
himself  were  speaking  to  me.' 

••Through  the  Reading  of  an  Old  Bible" 

"In  San  Antonio  de  Areco,  a  certain  Valentin  di 
Santo  was  converted  to  Christ  through  the  reading 
of  an  old  Bible  his  sister  found  among  a  pile  of  old 
books,  and  which  she  gave  to  him;  he  could  not  hide 
from  his  family  the  joy  which  salvation  had  brought 
to  his  heart,  and  they  began  to  wonder  what  was  the 
matter  with  him.  *  *  * 

' '  I  know  a  large  family  of  which  all  are  converted 
to  Christ.  The  young  men  of  that  family  prove  to 
be  real  models  of  Christians,  and  they  are  employed 
at  the  railroad.  Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  father  of 
the  family  received  a  Bible  as  a  gift,  and  he  had  to 
promise  that  he  would  read  it.  He  kept  his  promise, 
and  the  result  was  that  the  whole  family  became 
converted,    and   joy   and   peace   entered   his   house. 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  45 

Later  on  they  became  members  of  the   Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  here."  *  *  * 

Mr.  Penzotti  adds  from  his  own  experience :  "I 
know  a  person  to  whom  was  given  as  a  gift  a  Bible 
just  as  he  entered  the  penitentiary.  He  read  it  and 
at  last  became  converted,  and  as  soon  as  he  got  out 
of  the  penitentiary,  he  began  to  preach  the  gospel; 
and  his  efforts  have  not  been  in  vain,  but  resulted 
in  the  conversion  of  many  a  soul." 

In  Awakening  China 

One  of  the  China  sub-Agency  Secretaries  was  glad- 
dened by  a  man  who  came  seeking  baptism  as  a  result 
of  reading  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures,  which  had  been 
placed  in  his  hands  by  this  missionary  as  they  passed 
on  the  road  one  day  in  the  gloaming.  A  modern  Cor- 
nelius, a  fine  type  of  a  Chinese  gentleman,  is  cited 
as  another  example  of  one  led  by  the  Bible  alone. 
"Six  men  took  part  in  a  testimony  meeting,  four  of 
them  attributing  their  new  joy  to  the  reading  of  the 
books  alone,  and  two  to  the  conversation  of  col- 
porteurs." 

One  of  the  Chinese  colporteurs  writes  quaintly: 
"Thanks  be  to  God's  purpose,  the  calling  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  leading  and  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
a  husband  and  wife,  who  live  in  the  West  St.  at  Kuan 
Hsien,  bought  a  set  of  Gospels  and  Acts;  through 
reading  them  the  whole  family  repented.  At  Chong 
Hsing  Chang,  two  men,  by  the  names  of  Chen  and 
Wang,  bought  Gospels  and  repented.  Two  merchants 
from  Chong  King  bought  Bibles,  the  reading  of  which 
led  them  to  repentance." 

Apostolic  Language  and  Events 

Another  faithful  colporteur  reports  in  Apostolic 
language:  "Peace  to  thee  and  greetings.  I  write  on 
purpose  to  report  to  you  the  work  done  for  the 
Lord  during  the  year.     I,  the  slave  of  the  Lord,  was 


46  STORY    OF    THE 

at  Fenchow  selling  books  and  preaching  the  doctrine- 
Wang  Fu  Shan,  an  ex-soldier,  heard  me  preaching; 
he  bought  five  Scripture  portions  to  take  home. 
After  carefully  reading  them  he  repented  and  be- 
lieved in  the  Lord.  This  happened  in  the  third 
Moon.  Bay  Wha  Shuen,  a  doctor  57  years  of  age, 
heard  me  preaching  on  the  12th  day  of  the  fifth  Moon. 
He  bought  three  Scripture  portions  and  four  tracts 
and  took  them  home  to  examine  their  contents.  He 
himself,  his  brother,  and  his  son  all  believed  and 
invited  me  to  their  house  to  see  their  idols  cast  out — 
which  they  did  entirely." 

Still  another  Chinese  colporteur  reports:  "I  am 
recording  the  names  of  several  whom  I  know  were 
once  in  darkness,  but  were  illumined  by  the  operation 
of  God  and  his  Word:  Tan  Yu  Fung,  who  lives  at 
Kaokentsze,  read  the  Scriptures  and  believed;  Ch'en 
Kin-Tang,  at  Taih,  read  the  Scriptures  and  was  saved; 
Ch'en  Kentsze,  also  at  Taih;  Chang  Tsze  Ren,  at 
Pukiang;  Chou  Shi  Ching,  at  Tahsingchang ;  and  Li 
Kuang  Chien,  at  Pukiang.  All  similarly  were  brought 
to  Christ  by  simple  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  Chang 
Yuin-Wu,  "Huang  Yuin-Fung,  and  Wu  Huan-Ching 
found  the  way  of  life  by  unaided  reading  of  the 
Bible." 

The  Word  is  still  efficacious.  It  does  not  return 
void.  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
vSpirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

THE  CALL  FOR  COMPLETE  BIBLES 

It  is  noteworthy  that  report  after  report,  with  sur- 
prising uniformity,  mentions  the  increasing  call  for 
the  complete  Bible,  instead  of  Testaments  or  por- 
tions. Eight  of  the  nine  Home  Agency,  and  eight 
of  the  eleven  Foreign  Agency,  reports  specifically 
mention  this  as  a  notable  fact  of  1919.  And  in  the  one 
Home  Agency  and  two  of  the  three  Foreign  Agencies 
which  have  not  specifically  mentioned  it,  the  circu- 


AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY  47 

lation  of  Bibles  for  1919  has  been  from  30%  to  100% 
greater  than  the  previous  year.  We  may  not  take 
space  to  quote  the  statements  on  this  phenomenon. 
The  report  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
records  the  same  glad  experience  as  reported  for  1919 
by  its  workers. 

Among  the  causes  suggested  for  this  increased  call 
are:  at  home,  the  increased  prosperity  and  ability  to 
buy  the  full  Bible;  at  home,  as  well  as  abroad,  the 
world  unrest  and  the  seeking  for  light  on  the  prob- 
lems of  life;  in  foreign  lands,  the  increased  Christian 
community  and  more  direct  Bible  study  and  instruc- 
tion; in  foreign  lands,  this  call  is  recognized  particu- 
larly as  the  fruit  from  the  wide  seed-sowing  of  the  Gos- 
pels and  portions  in  previous  years.  But,  above  all, 
shall  we  not  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  at  work? 

THE  SOCIETY'S  FINANCES 

A  word  on  the  finances  before  presenting  the 
Agencv  Reports.  Full  details  are  given  in  the  Annual 
Report.  The  total  income  for  1919  was  $866,758.86, 
against  a  total  expenditure  of  $858,348.52. 

The  chief  items  of  income  were:  From  gifts  of  the 
living,  through  churches,  Auxiliaries,  and  individuals, 
a  little  over  $266,000;  from  legacies  and  the  income 
from  funds  at  interest,  a  little  over  $229,000;  and 
from  the  sale  of  Scriptures,  a  little  over  $362,000. 

The  main  items  of  expenditure  were:  The  cost  of 
Scriptures  sold,  including  the  cost  of  plates,  amount- 
ing to  a  little  over  $358,000;  the  value  of  donations 
and  allowances  on  Scriptures  circulated,  over  $61,000; 
and  the  salaries  and  office  expenses  at  headquarters 
and  at  the  Home  and  Foreign  Agencies,  including 
colporteurs'  wages  and  expenses,  amounting  to  some- 
thing over  $260,000. 

And  now  we  take  up  the  Reports  of  the  Home 
Agencies  in  the  order  of  their  establishment. 


THE   HOME   AGENCIES 

The  Colored  People  of  the  South 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  J.  P.  Wragg,  D.D. 
Bible  House,  Astor  Place,  New  York. 

Established  1901.  Field  in  1919:  Fifteen  Southern  States.  Circulation  in 
1919,  32,067  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since  1901,  605,597 
volumes. 

"A  year  fruitful  in  good  deeds  and  blessed  results" 
is  Dr.  Wragg's  characterization  of  the  twentieth  year 
of  this  Agency.  The  report  shows  that  a  very  real 
service  has  been  rendered  and  appreciated.  The 
Agency  is  fortunate  in  being  under  its  original  Secre- 
tary as,  with  the  end  of  the  year,  it  enters  a  larger 
field.  The  title  and  the  task,  from  being  that  of  the 
Colored  People  of  the  South,  has  become  that  of  the 
Colored  People  of  the  United  States. 

The  Year's  Summary 

Dr.  Wragg  says:  "The  following  facts  concerning 
the  activities  of  the  Agency  during  1919  may  be  of 
interest  to  our  friends  and  the  readers  of  this  Story. 
We  are  happy  in  the  knowledge  that  we  were  able 
to  have  a  total  circulation  of  10,237  Bibles,  11,704 
Testaments,  and  10,126  portions — showing  a  grand 
total  of  32,067  copies.  The  increase  over  1918  was 
71  Bibles;  the  decrease  came  in  Testaments,  amount- 
ing to  2,370,  and  7,403  portions — showing  a  total 
decrease  for  the  year  of  9,702  copies.  Our  working 
force,  at  no  one  time,  was  ever  over  nine  persons; 
and  most  of  the  time  we  only  had  two  regular  col- 
porteurs. We  spent  1,474  days  in  the  work;  traveled 
15,675  miles;  visited  179  villages  and  rural  sections; 
visited  24,663  families  and  found  4,352  of  them  with- 
out Bibles — of  these  we  supplied  2,739  who  were 
needy  and  too  poor  to  get  the  Scriptures." 

Brief  excerpts  from  some  colporteurs'  reports  must 
suffice  here,  as  in  other  Agencies,  the  full  statement 
being  available  in  the  large  Annual  Report. 


COLORED    PEOPLE  49 

Wasted  Effort 

Colporteur  Benton  mentions  some  of  the  difficulties 
of  work  in  sparsely  settled  regions,  and  how  they  are 
added  to — perhaps  unintentionally — by  misinforma- 
tion. 

"Did  I  tell  you  about  the  community  they  sent 
me  to,  telling  me  that  I  would  find  three  colored 
churches  and  a  great  number  of  people?  I  stocked 
pretty  heavy  and  skated  over  a  large-sized  territory, 
to  find  only  twelve  families  by  actual  count.  This 
is  one  of  the  many  cases  I  have  met  up  with  in  my 
travels." 

Elusive  Miners 

He  adds  about  another  phase  of  the  work:  "I 
know  this  territory,  but  it  is  some  job  to  keep  up 
with  these  mines.  I  often  go  to  one  I  knew  about 
some  years  ago,  and  when  I  get  there  they  are  through 
there  and  may  have  moved  thirty  or  more  miles  away. 
Why  do  I  look  these  miners  up  at  such  a  disadvantage 
to  myself?  My  only  answer  is:  '  They,  too,  need  the 
Word  of  God.'" 

Fighting  Whiskey 

Colporteur  Lucas,  in  one  phase  of  his  work  from 
the  Bible  stand  at  the  Atlanta  Union  Station,  has 
been  able  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  more  than  one 
in  need,  especially  those  who  had  fallen  under  the 
influence  of  liquor.  One  such  with  whom  he  recently 
talked,  said:  "I  know  you  are  a  good  man,  because 
you  are  selling  God's  Word,  and  I  am  wondering  if  I 
should  get  one  of  those  little  Testaments  and  carry 
it  in  my  pocket,  do  you  think  it  will  help  me  to  be 
a  better  man  ?  Well  I  will  take  one  home  to  my  little 
boy;  he  goes  to  Sunday  school  every  Sunday."  Leav- 
ing me  in  very  polite  manner,  he  said,  "Good-bye, 
Bible  Man;   may  God  bless  you." 

Another  case  is  reported  in  the  words :  "It  was  my 


50  COLORED    PEOPLE 

pleasure  to  remove  from  the  pocket  of  a  young  man 
an  empty  whiskey  bottle,  and  through  constant 
pleading  I  was  able  to  replace  it  with  a  New  Testa- 
ment. Since  that  time  the  young  man  paid  me  a 
visit,  stating  that  '  that  talk  and  Testament  you  sold 
me  was  the  cause  of  my  changing  my  plan  of  living.'  " 

War  Work   Praised 

Testimony  to  the  Army  and  Navy  work  is  also  re- 
corded: "Many  soldiers  who  had  been  discharged 
from  the  army  stopped  long  enough  to  give  praise  to 
the  American  Bible  Society  for  its  grand  and  noble 
work  among  their  comrades." 

Teaching  to  Read 

Colporteur  Leonard  reports  reading  passages  of 
Scripture  to  some  who  could  not  read,  and  then,  as 
their  interest  was  aroused,  helping  them  to  learn  to 
read.  Dr.  Wragg  urges  this  service  on  ministers, 
telling  of  the  experiences  of  some  who  have  helped 
members  of  their  congregations  to  learn  to  read,  and 
the  benefits  therefrom.  From  his  own  experience  he 
mentions  interesting  a  neighbor,  first  in  the  Scriptures 
and  then  in  learning  the  letters  of  the  words  in  one 
verse,  and  so  on  to  the  study  of  a  primer  and  first 
reader  until  she  could  read;  and  recalls  starting  a 
young  man  to  learn  to  read  in  the  same  way,  who  has 
since  finished  a  theological  seminary  course  and  is 
now  a  success ful  pastor. 

Intelligence  and  Appreciation 

Colporteurs  are  encouraged  by  a  changing  attitude. 
Not  so  many  foolish  questions  are  asked  about  the 
Bible.  People  are  reading  it  with  more  intelligence. 
Encouragement  has  come  from  the  appreciative 
words  of  individuals,  of  churches,  of  Sunday  schools, 
and  of  institutions  such  as  orphans'  homes,  which 
have  been  aided  in  obtaining  the  Scriptures. 


Northwestern  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  S.  II.  Kirkbride,  D.D. 
332  South  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

Established  1906.  Field:  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minne- 
sota, Iowa,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  and  South  Dakota.  Circula- 
tion in  1919,  165,315  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since  1906, 
2,360,076  volumes. 

The  author  of  this  report  feels  deeply  the  inade- 
quacy of  his  forces  and  funds,  as  compared  with  the 
greatness  of  the  field  and  opportunity.  The  chal- 
lenge of  many  tongues  and  a  teeming  population  is 
presented  and  faced  undauntedly.  The  work  being 
done,  and  the  kind  of  workers  who  so  bravely  and 


WORKMEN,     CHIEFLY    FOREIGNERS,     LEAVING    ARMOUR    AND    OTHER    GREAT 
PLANTS 

A  colporteur  greets  them  at  noon  and  night  with  the  Bible,  each  in  his  own  language. 

consecratedly  carry  it  on,  are  reported  with  no  undue 
pride,  but  with  evident  joy.  The  future  is  faced  with 
a  hope  that  "lightens  toil  and  sweetens  endeavor." 


52 


NORTHWESTERN    AGENCY 


A  New  and  Regretted  Experience 

For  the  first  time  in  Dr.  Kirkbride's  connection 
with  the  Bible  Society — which  began  in  1907 — he  re- 
ports the  tide  of  circulation  has  ebbed.  The  loss  was 
chiefly  in  Testaments,  and  this  because  during  the 
previous  year  over  100,000  of  these  had  been  sent 
out  to  the  Army  and  Navy.  There  was  actually  an 
increase  of  8,356  volumes  in  the  number  of  Bibles 
circulated,  the  distribution  for  the  year  being:  Bibles 
37,380,  Testaments  59,310,  and  portions  68,625— 
making  a  total  of  165,315  books.  However,  the  de- 
crease does  not  reflect  upon  the  Bible  Society,  the 
Agency  Secretary,  or  the  field  force  It  was  plainly 
a  lack  of  supply. 

An  Astonishing  List 

Space  is  taken  to  repeat  the  names  of  the  61  lan- 
guages in  which  Scriptures  were  circulated  in  this  one 
Agency,  for  such  a  list  cannot  but  be  astonishing  and 
thought  provoking : 


Albanian 

Ethiopic 

Latin 

Slavic 

Amharic 

Finnish 

Lettish 

Slovak 

Arabic 

Flemish 

Lithuanian 

Slovenian 

Armenian  (Anc.) 

French 

Muskogee 

Spanish 

Armenian  (Mod.) 

Gala 

Norwegian 

Swedish 

Armeno-Turkish 

German 

Oranberg 

Syriac  (Anc.) 

Bohemian 

Greek 

Panjabi 

Syriac    (Mod.) 

Bulgarian 

Hawaiian 

Pashto 

Tagalog 

Chinese 

Hebrew 

Persian 

Tunisian 

Croatian 

Hungarian 

Polish 

Turkish 

Dakota  (North  Amer- 

■ Icelandic 

Portuguese 

Urdu 

ican  Indian) 

Italian 

Roumanian 

Welsh 

Danish 

Japanese 

Russian 

Yiddish 

Dutch 

Judeo-Arabic 

Ruthenian 

Zulu 

English 

Karaso 

Servian 

Esperanto 

Korean 

Sindhi 

The  Challenge  of  a  Great  City 

Under  this  caption  Dr.  Kirkbride  mentions  that 
Chicago  alone  contains  a  population  larger  than  the 
nine  states  of  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Nevada,  Utah, 
Wyoming,  Montana,  Idaho,  Oregon,  and  Alaska,  and 
then  points  out  the  sad  fact  that  depleted  resources 
had  not  enabled  the  Bible  Society  to  have  a  single 


NORTHWESTERN    AGENCY  53 

paid  colporteur  in  this  vast  population.  It  is  a  dis- 
concerting and  disturbing  condition  for  those  who 
realize  what  an  important  part  the  Bible  can  and 
should  play  in  Americanizing,  as  well  as  Christian- 
izing, this  tremendous  population.  Workers  are  avail- 
able if  means  to  employ  them  were  available.  "I  am 
humbled,"  writes  Dr.  Kirkbride,  "by  the  case  of 
William  Kowalik.  He  formerly  was  one  of  our  col- 
porteurs in  Chicago,  working  for  $70  per  month. 
He  spoke  nine  languages.  He  was  dropped  from  lack 
of  funds  and  is  now  selling  life  insurance  in  nine 
languages  at  $50  per  week.  But  he  says  his  heart  is 
in  Bible  work  and  not  in  insurance.  If  such  a  man 
is  worth  $50  a  week  to  sell  insurance  in  nine  tongues, 
is  he  not  worth  as  much  to  sell  Bibles  in  the  same 
number  of  languages?" 

Only  a  few  of  the  many  interesting  incidents  and 
facts  from  this~  important  Agency  can  be  given  here. 

Reaction 

One  feature  has  been  emphasized:  the  Scriptures 
carried  abroad  by  returning  immigrants,  or  sent  back 
to  their  homeland  by  those  who  are  remaining  in  this 
country.  Here  is  corroboration  from  the  "Range 
Pastor":  "Many  thousands  of  the  men  who  first 
heard  the  gospel  in  meetings  on  the  Range  have  re- 
turned to  their  former  homes  in  Europe,  many  of 
them  to  fight  for  their  government  and  native  land. " 

A  Live  Wire 

A  modest,  unassuming  man,  Gabriel  Vas,  is  one  of 
the  chief  workers  of  this  Agency.  His  personal  story 
is  interestingly  told;  how  he  grew  up  as  a  boy  in  the 
homeland  with  the  expectation  of  becoming  a  Catholic 
monk,  came  to  the  United  States  and  here  met  a 
colporteur  in  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  was  led  to  de- 
termine to  become  a  colporteur  himself,  and  during 
the  eight  years  that  followed  has   "sold  Bibles  to 


54  NORTHWESTERN    AGENCY 

English,  Hungarians,  Poles,  Russians,  Lithuanians, 
Roumanians,  Bohemians,  Germans,  Ruthenians,  Bul- 
garians, Croatians,  Serbians,  Armenians,  Italians, 
Syrians,  Jews,  Chinese,  Arabians,  Norwegians,  and 
Greeks."  One  of  the  happiest  experiences  of  his  life 
was  to  see  "my  own  dear  wife  turn  from  Catholicism 
and  acceptthe  truthof  God's  Word,  and  she  has  given 
much  of  her  time,' placing  the  Bible  in  many  homes." 
When  he  went  to  Chicago,  a  fellow-Hungarian  said 
that  Chicago  was  a  poor  place  to  sell  Bibles  and  that 
his  efforts  would  be  wasted,  "and  so  Satan  tried  to 
discourage  me  and  drive  me  back.  But  I  have  sold 
over  $7,000  worth  of  Bibles  in  Chicago  and  vicinity. 
In  my  experience  I  find  it  is  easier  to  lead  a  Catholic 
to  accept  the  truth  than  a  Socialist." 

"What  a  Range  of  Work!" 

The  Rev.  E.  W.  Jennett,  working  in  and  around 
Detroit,  has  found  a  Babel  of  languages  there,  selling 
the  Scriptures  in  31.  It  is  estimated  that  the  increase 
in  the  foreign  population  each  year  is  15,000.  Fifty 
per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit  are  foreign 
born,  and  70  per  cent,  are  of  foreign  parentage;  an 
important  and  importunate  field  for  the  American 
Bible  Society.  What  a  range  of  work  is  the  colpor- 
teur's! And,  incidentally,  what  an  amount  of  work 
is  involved  in  keeping  a  stock  in  so  many  languages 
in  good  condition  and  easily  available! 

Atheism  and  Bolshevism 

Miss  Sarah  Grind  ley,  the  president  and  founder  of 
the  Gershom  Settlement  in  Detroit,  speaks  of  the 
atheistic  tendency  and  Bolshevistic  teachings  among 
the  foreign  masses.  "The  work  among  these  classes 
is  most  disheartening,  but  it  goes  on.  The  missioner 
sows  the  seed  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  as  a  preacher 
teaches  the  Word." 


NORTHWESTERN    AGENCY  55 

And  the  Children 

The  Rev.  Neil  Love,  working  in  Michigan,  rejoices 
in  the  opportunity  of  service,  and  the  record  of  ac- 
complishment, during  the  year.  "The  Bible  is  the 
book  that  makes  way  for  itself.  Many  times  do  I 
read  the  Word  to  the  people  in  their  homes,  and  each 
time  I  read  it  it  has  a  new  interest."  He  finds  the 
Catholics  friendly,  frequently  selling  Bibles  to  them. 
To  him  it  was  a  soldier  showed  the  Testament,  al- 
ready mentioned,  with  imbedded  shrapnel  which  other- 
wise would  have  given  him  a  mortal  wound.  The 
children  are  his  special  object.  "One  little  fellow 
met  me  one  evening  on  the  street,  just  as  I  was  going 
to  my  room.  He  had  no  money,  but  he  was  anxious 
to  get  a  book.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  stay  until  he 
went  back  several  blocks  to  get  the  money.  I 
hesitated,  for  it  was  cold  and  I  was  anxious  to  get 
to  my  room.  However,  his  anxious,  honest  face  over- 
came my  hesitancy.  He  soon  appeared  with  the  price 
of  the  book,  and  when  he  told  me  that  he  had  been 
attending  Sunday  school  and  for  a  long  time  had 
wanted  a  Bible  of  his  own,  I  felt  myself  repaid  for 
my  wait." 

Officials  Note  and  Commend 

The  veteran  and  successful  colporteur,  Mr.  G.  A. 
Perkins,  made  Omaha  the  center  of  his  service  for 
some  time.  Here  he  trundled  his  stock  of  Bibles  in  a 
little  baby  carriage  and  became  a  well-known,  and, 
by  some,  at  least,  a  much-appreciated  vendor.  An 
official  of  the  street  railway  saw  him  on  the  street  at 
his  work  and  gave  this  heartening  commendation: 
"I  was  glad  to  see  that  man  buy  that  Bible.  He  had 
been  talking  to  you  before.  People  will  pass  your 
stand  and  their  conscience  will  tell  them  that  they 
ought  to  get  a  Bible  and  read  it.  I  have  been  watch- 
ing you  for  five  years.     I  used  to  watch  the  men  at 


56  NORTHWESTERN    AGENCY 

the  shipyards  in  San  Francisco  doing  this  same  kind 
of  work.     You  people  are  doing  a  great  work." 

Read  Twenty-eight  Times 

One  of  many  letters  Mr.  Perkins  receives  read :  "God 
bless  you  much  is  my  prayer.  Do  you  remember  I 
bought  a  small  Testament  of  you  in  Omaha  when 
you  were  there  last?  Well,  I  have  read  this  book 
through  twenty-eight  times,  and  it  is  worn  out." 

A  Fortnight's  and  Seven  Years'  Work 

During  fifteen  days'  work  in  South  Omaha,  the 
cash  sales  were  over  $100.  The  distribution  was  294 
volumes  in  the  following  languages:  Bohemian,  Bul- 
garian, Chinese,  Croatian,  Danish,  French,  German, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  Hungarian,  Italian,  Japanese,  Lithu- 
anian, Norwegian,  Polish,  Roumanian,  Russian,  Ser- 
bian, Spanish,  and  Swedish,  making  20  different  lan- 
guages. Exactly  147  volumes  were  in  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  147  in  English.  Forty  Bibleless  homes 
were  supplied.  Additional  interesting  individual  cases 
will  be  found  in  the  fuller  Report. 

Mr.  Perkins'  summary  of  seven  years'  work  shows 
a  total  distribution  of  77,275  volumes  in  31  languages; 
3,186  Bibleless  homes  having  been  supplied,  and  he 
having  traveled  25,000  miles  in  12  states. 

In  Jail 

Another  successful  and  devoted  worker  is  Mr. 
Otto  H.  Nater,  in  Indianapolis,  one  phase  of  whose 
work,  that  in  connection  with  the  city  jail,  has  been 
so  blessed  through  40  conversions  and  the  distribution 
of  over  800  Scripture  volumes  among  the  prisoners. 

Conclusion 

Dr.  Kirkbride  closes  his  report  by  the  remarks: 
"Our  problem  is  simply  to  furnish  the  books  when 
wanted  and  in  the  quantities  desired." 


South  Atlantic  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  M.  B.  Porter 
313a  East  Grace  Street,  Richmond,  Va. 

Established  1907.  Field:  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  Circulation  in  1919,  71,563  volumes. 
Aggregate  circulation  since  1907,  1,193,514  volumes. 

Candor  is  appropriate  and  only  right  in  these  re- 
ports. Discouragements  as  well  as  encouragements, 
difficulties  as  well  as  advances,  should  characterize 
and  do  characterize  them.  For  example,  Mr.  Porter 
mentions  the  difficulties  which  more  or  less  have 
been  experienced  by  all  his  fellow-Secretaries,  where 
depleted  appropriations  have  diminished  the  work- 
ing force,  and  the  condition  of  the  money  market, 
the  upheavals  in  the  labor  world,  the  uncertainty  of 
transportation,  and  the  limited  supply  of  books  have 
all  been  serious  handicaps.  On  the  other  hand  he 
rejoices  in,  and  gives  numerous  illustrations  of,  the 
encouraging  increase  of  voluntary  service. 

Distribution 

More  than  the  mere  figures  will  be  seen  by  the  sym- 
pathetic reader  in  the  following  table: 

Bibles  Test's  Portions  Total  Value 

Sales  at  the  depository 8,728  6,942      9,447    25,117  $6,240.07 

Colporteurs'  sales 6,925  13,017    12,764    32,706  11,938.94 

Donations  at  the  depository 687  2,823      8,096    11,606  1,121.78 

Donations  by  colporteurs 132  288         205         625  135.97 

Miscellaneous 4      1,505        1,509  456.00 

Grand  totals 16,476    24,575    30,512    71,563  $19,892.76 

A  Child  Shall  Lead 

One  of  the  effective  workers,  Mr.  Herbert  G. 
Spence,  had  come  with  experience  from  service  in 
Canada  with  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
and  produced  very  encouraging  results  until  business 
compelled  his  return  to  Canada.  He  found  Tampa 
quite  a  cosmopolitan  city  and  tells  interestingly  of 
experiences  in  his  work.     A  Cuban  lad,  met  on  the 


58  SOUTH    ATLANTIC    AGENCY 

street  and  asked  for  information,  led  to  the  selling 
of  12  Bibles.  A  cordial  woman,  having  obtained  a 
Bible  for  herself,  sold  it  to  a  neighbor  and  called  for 
another,  doing  this  four  times,  thus  helping  in  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures. 

Godless  Husbands 

Mr.  Spence  writes :  ' '  There  were  grievous  instances 
of  husbands  being  indifferent  or  opposed  to  the  use 
of  the  Word  of  God  in  the  home,  and  wives  having 
to  buy  the  Bible  on  their  own  account,  in  some  in- 
stances without  the  knowledge  of  the  husband.  Other 
happy  instances  occurred  of  parents  buying  the  Bible 
for  their  home  when  the  opportunity  thus  offered, 
saying  they  had  been  neglecting  God's  Word,  but  were 
glad  to  get  and  read  it  again.  Through  the  visit  of 
the  colporteur,  blind  Jananschek,  a  newspaper  ven- 
der, is  now  the  delighted  possessor  of  a  Book  of 
Psalms  in  the  raised  characters  for  the  blind. 

A  Factory  Hand  Helps 

Mr.  J.  W.  Nimmo,  employed  at  a  factory,  loves  the 
Bible  so  much  that  he  wants  others  to  receive  and 
believe  its  message;  so  he  gave  odd  hours  to  its  dis- 
tribution. "My  work  has  been  mainly  in  the  sub- 
urbs of  the  city, -and  now  and  then  I  find  families 
without  Bibles.  I  never  leave  such  families  without 
putting  a  Bible  in  the  home,  whether  they  have  money 
or  not." 

The  Poor  also  Buy 

Another  who  circulates  the  Scriptures  while  on  his 
rounds  in  other  business,  says:  "I  find  an  increasing 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  people  not  only  to  purchase 
Bibles  and  Testaments,  but  to  get  the  best  bindings, 
and  generally  larger  type.  It  is  marvelous  how  the 
poor  people  among  the  whites  buy  the  Bible.  A  few 
weeks  ago,  in  St.  Johns  Presbytery,  Florida,  a  sixteen- 
year-old   girl   wanted  a   Bible,   but   had   no  money. 


SOUTH    ATLANTIC    AGENCY  59 

After  selecting  the  one  she  wanted,  she  offered  to 
pay  in  huckleberries,  which  I  accepted;  and  the  girl 
seemed  happy  with  her  new  Bible." 

His  Plan  of  Work 

"Whenever  I  undertake  to  canvass  an  incorporated 
town  of  any  size — from  3,000  to  15,000  population — 
I  first  seek  the  acquaintance  of  the  pastors,  then  I  go 
to  the  mayor  and  explain  to  him  my  work  and  its 
nature  and  get  his  consent  to  operate  in  his  territory ; 
otherwise  I  am  sometimes  accosted  by  some  police- 
man or  town  officer  asking  for  my  authority  or 
license  to  place  Bibles  for  sale  in  homes  in  the  town. 
I  always  begin  my  work  on  the  outskirts  of  a  town  or 
city,  and  generally  work  toward  the  center,  request- 
ing each  family  visited  kindly  to  tell  their  friends  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  my  work  and  how  I  do  the 
work.  The  plan  paves  the  way  for  me,  and  frequently 
I  am  approached  by  persons  who  desire  me  to  come 
to  their  homes.  I  preach  without  fee  or  reward  in 
as  many  places  as  I  possibly  can,  as  this  also  makes 
easier  my  entrance  into  many  homes.  I  am  a  mem- 
ber of  a  few  secret  orders  and  I  also  get  acquainted 
with  the  people  the  quickest  way  possible,  and  thus 
in  these  methods  my  work  is  accomplished." 

A  War  By-Product 

' '  I  have  observed  during  the  latter  days  of  war  an 
increased  interest  in  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 
Whether  this  is  due  to  a  care  on  the  part  of  the  people 
to  search  if  the  end  of  time  were  approaching,  or  to 
a  deeper  spirituality,  I  will  not  say;  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  I  have  increased  my  sales  at  least  33  per 
cent,  since  the  world  war  began." 

Good  Results 

In  North  Carolina,  the  Rev.  George  R.  Gillespie 
has   been   a   main   factor   in   the  circulating   of  the 


60  SOUTH    ATLANTIC    AGENCY 

Scriptures,  in  connection  with  his  pastoral  work. 
During  the  months  we  have  been  distributing  your 
Bibles  we  have  noted  a  wonderful  increase  in  the  in- 
terest manifested  in  the  study  of  the  Word  and  the 
interest  in  hearing  simple  Bible  expositions.  More 
than  a  hundred  homes,  besides  an  equal  number  of 
individuals,  without  Bibles  or  Testaments  of  any 
description  have  been  supplied,  either  at  reduced 
price  or  free  of  charge.  The  county  jail  and  the  chain 
gang  have  been  furnished  with  Bibles,  hundreds  of 
portions  have  been  distributed  to  the  young  people 
and  uneducated,  and  many  souls  have  been  won 
into  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  through  personal 
work  in  the  distribution  of  Bibles  and  Testaments — 
souls  that  possibly  could  not  have  been  reached  in 
any  other  way.  Next  to  the  grace  of  God,  not  ex- 
cepting the  preaching  of  the  Word,  I  count  the  work 
of  a  colporteur  the  most  effective  means  that  God 
is  using  to-day  in  the  reclamation  of  lost  men,  women, 
and  children."  Mr.  Gillespie  has  put  others  in  his 
church  to  work  and  reports  that  the  commissions 
from  sales  support  one  family  of  three:  an  invalid 
mother,  a  crippled  son,  and  a  son  who  is  able  to  act 
as  a  colporteur;  all  formerly  being  supported  through 
church  charities. 

Memory  Pictures 
The  Agency  was  afflicted  through  the  death  of  one 
of  its  valued  and  consecrated  workers,  Mr.  J.  Q. 
Swann,  also  a  worker  in  North  Carolina.  He  drew 
effectively  various  memory  pictures,  some  of  which 
have  been  mentioned  in  previous  pages:  of  a  bare- 
foot boy  whose  benediction  on  receiving  an  eight- 
cent  Testament  for  four  cents  was  such  a  sweet  sur- 
prise; of  a  poor  girl  who  was  ready  to  give  her  only 
trinket  in  exchange  for  the  Testament  she  so  longed 
to  obtain;  of  a  stalwart  soldier,  just  returned  from 
the  tumult  of  war,  who,  in  a  serious  vein,  told  of  the 


SOUTH    ATLANTIC    AGENCY  61 

little  khaki  Testament,  "the  armor  of  light,"  he  had 
borne  in  many  a  conflict ;  of  a  khaki  Testament  picked 
up  on  a  battlefield  in  France  by  an  English  soldier 
and  returned  by  him  to  the  given  address  in  America, 
and  there  discovered  with  glad  surprise  by  its  owner 
on  his  return,  who,  now,  his  sister  said,  "always  reads 
from  that  little  Testament  at  our  evening  prayer"; 
of  a  lame  cripple  in  a  house  on  a  hill,  whom  the  col- 
porteur, at  the  end  of  the  day,  with  all  Bibles  sold, 
found  without  a  Bible,  and  who  walked  several  miles 
with  no  little  difficulty  that  he  might  obtain  a  Bible, 
the  need  of  which  he  realized  as  a  result  of  his  con- 
versation with  the  colporteur. 

A  Suggestion  to  Ministers 

There  is,  perhaps,  a  suggestion  to  other  ministers, 
who,  although  busy  in  their  own  work,  still  would  be 
glad  to  forward  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  in 
the  example  of  the  Rev.  R.  N.  Hartness,  who,  without 
compensation  except  traveling  expenses,  visited  a 
number  of  Conferences  in  the  interests  of  the  Bible 
Society. 

Conclusion 

Mr.  Porter  concludes:  "We  believe  that  the  work 
we  are  doing  is  the  work  that  God  has  planned  for  the 
saving  of  the  world.  There  have  been  days  of  appre- 
hension and  fear,  but  we  must  not  fail,  for  with  His 
help  we  can,  and  upheld  by  the  optimism  of  the  Cross, 
we  will  succeed." 


Western  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  A.  F.  Ragatz,  D.D. 

808  Railroad  Building,  Denver,  Colo. 

Established  1907.  Field:  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Mon- 
tana, Utah,  Colorado,  Missouri,  and  Kansas.  Circulation  in  1919, 
32,757  volumes.     Aggregate  circulation  since  1907,  544,853  volumes. 

The  most  mountainous  Agency  is  this  Western.  In 
its  extensive  and  difficult  area,  through  the  co-opera- 
tion of  13  colporteurs,  15  correspondents,  and  24 
voluntary  workers,  the  32,757  volumes  of  Scriptures 
distributed  consisted  of  9,560  Bibles,  13,756  Testa- 
ments, and  9,441  portions. 

The  burden  and  sorrow  of  his  own  home,  bereft 
of  wife  and  mother,  did  not  interfere  with  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  importance  and  variety  of  the  work  of  his 
difficult  field,  or  his  appreciation  of  the  devoted  and 
self-sacrificing  labors  of  his  co-workers,  on  the  part 
of  the  Agency  Secretary,  Dr.  Ragatz.  Several  weeks 
of  the  spring  and  early  summer  were  spent  by  him 
at  New  York,  rendering  important  and  original  help 
in  the  preparation  of  charts  and  other  material  for 
the  Methodist  Centenary  at  Columbus. 

Helpers  Scarce 

While  the  aid  of  voluntary  helpers  has  been  appre- 
ciated and  is  mentioned  in  the  report,  it  is  also  re- 
corded that  the  Western  Agency  has  never  had  so 
few  voluntary  or  unpaid  workers — this,  because  the 
high  cost  of  living  had  compelled  so  many  who  had 
formerly  co-operated  to  seek  some  remunerative 
employment.  It  is  Dr.  Ragatz  who  makes  record  of 
the  diffidence  and  silence  of  correspondents  who  claim 
to  have  "nothing  to  tell,"  but  who,  on  interrogation 
prove  to  have  had  very  interesting  and  sometimes  very 
unusual  experiences,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  on 
page  33. 

In  Missouri 

One  of  his  choice  workers,  the  Rev.  Rade  Pesut, 


WESTERN    A.GENCY  63 

was  employed  in  Missouri  and  gives  an  interesting 
report  from  which  but  few  illustrative  excerpts  may 
be  given. 

Two  Factors  which  Diminish  Distribution 

"I  have  found  it  somewhat  more  difficult  to  dis- 
tribute Bibles  and  Testaments  in  the  year  since  the 
signing  of  the  armistice,  than  in  the  war  year  immedi- 
ately preceding.  There  are  two  factors  entering  into 
the  problem:  first,  the  rising  cost  of  living,  which 
leaves  the  working  man  with  a  narrower  margin  of 
money  to  spend  out  of  his  income;  and  second,  the 
spirit  of  criticism  and  fault-finding,  which  has  in- 
creased much  in  this  period. 

Light  on  Life's  Problems 

"One  man  told  me  he  was  very  glad  to  read  the 
Bible  in  such  trying  times,  'because  I  find  in  it  help 
for  a  better  living.'  Another  said,  'This  Book  is  my 
life;  it  shows  me  the  right  way  to  go;  I  would  be 
glad  to  have  my  friends  buy  Bibles  and  each  man  to 
learn  the  Way  for  himself.'  Another  man  told  me, 
'  When  I  read  my  Bible  I  find  an  explanation  of  my 
life  problems,  and  help  to  meet  them.' 

"Dear  to  Me" 

"I  sold  a  Bible  to  a  man  who  showed  me  a  copy 
which  he  had  marked  copiously.  As  passages  here 
and  there  'found  him,'  he  would  underscore  the  same. 
As  I  looked  at  the  book  he  said,  '  You  will  see  that  I 
use  my  Bible.  It  is  a  very  dear  book  to  me.  I  wish 
to  purchase  another  copy  and  take  it  to  my  son  that 
he  too  may  read  and  find  therein  the  Way  of  Life.' ' 

Purchasers  of  Seven  Nationalities  Testify 

He  mentions  interesting  testimony  from  numerous 
purchasers:  A  converted  Jew,  who,  in  answer  to  an 
atheist,  replied:    "Once  I  was  blind,  but  now  I  can 


64  WESTERN    AGENCY 

see  the  Light  of  the  World  in  Jesus";  a  Finn,  who 
said,  "The  Jew  is  right;  I,  too,  have  been  converted 
by  reading  the  Bible.  This  book  in  my  hand  reached 
my  heart  and  is  a  lamp  unto  my  path";  a  Croatian, 
who  said  that  atheistic  teachings  had  not  disturbed 
his  faith.  "I  believe  in  God;  no  man  can  rob  me 
of  this  comfort  and  experience";  a  colored  man,  who 
said,  "I  found  the  best  education  in  this  book.  I 
never  have  had  trouble  with  anybody,  because  I 
followed  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ";  a  Serbian, 
who  testified  that  the  Bible  is  "a  book  that  every 
man  should  study";  a  German  Catholic,  who  said, 
"Bring  the  best  Bible  you  have,  regardless  of  cost; 
it  is  a  book  that  every  man  should  study";  and  an 
American,  who  showed  the  Bible  he  had  purchased 
a  year  earlier,  much  marked  up  from  his  study  of  it. 

War's  Influence 

1 '  My  experiences  have  revealed  the  interesting  fact 
that  the  great  war  has  not  diminished  the  people's 
interest  in  the  Bible.  I  have  revisited  several  com- 
munities where  a  year  ago  I  made  some  rather  re- 
markable sales,  and  found  happily  that  on  this  occa- 
sion the  people  were  even  more  willing  to  purchase 
the  Scriptures,  and  yet  more  willing  to  have  their 
teachings  made  plain." 

In  Idaho — Reaching  the  Lonely 

An  earnest  and  successful  colporteur,  whom  the 
Agency  has  lost  because  of  a  physical  breakdown,  was 
Mr.  Lee  Moran,  who  worked  in  Idaho.  The  rigors 
of  the  climate  and  the  strain  of  traveling  did  not 
daunt  him,  though  they  told  on  his  strength.  He 
found  the  people  in  rural  districts  seldom  had  religious 
services  and  the  children  no  Sabbath  school  and, 
therefore,  naturally  not  religiously  inclined.  But  he 
rejoiced  in  placing  Testaments  in  many  needy  homes. 
The  contrast  of  work  in  the  city  with  that  in  the 


WESTERN    AGENCY  65 

country  embarrassed  him  deeply,  the  influence  of  city 
life  being  not  Godward.     He  truly  says: 

The  Colporteur  a  Missionary 

' '  The  work  of  the  colporteur  should  be  vastly  more 
than  mere  'salesmanship'  and  'commercialism.'  He 
must  be  in  the  fullest  sense  a  missionary,  with  a  burn- 
ing love  for  the  souls  of  men.  His  great  task  is  to  so 
present  the  Scriptures,  as  to  arouse  interest  in  the 


'S^sJ^  Kat  the  munition  k- 
^f^HiqywtathGSoldkx 
ifeykj  at  the  fcmt-Mbb 
^EEffl  Society  is  to  the 
Missionary  in  tfte  field. . 

Tt  Translates  and  supplies  the 
Bible  to  the  Missionaries  of 
all  denominations 


ft 


ible  Society  Secretaries 
and  colporteurs  are 
Pioneers  Of  Missions 
at  home  and  abroad 


NO  B1BLES»M0  MISSIONS 


ONE  OF  MANY  CHARTS  PREPARED  BY  DR.  RAGATZ 

Word;    people  will  then  possess  themselves    of  the 
Book  and  earnestly  seek  the  truth  it  contains." 

In  Utah — The  Gospel  Mission 

The  Utah  Gospel  Mission  has  been  a  channel  of 
distribution  in  that  city.  It  sends  out  only  volun- 
tary workers,  providing  simply  for  their  living  ex- 
penses, and  has  a  definite  programme  for  its  workers. 
First,   to  visit   every  home  and    endeavor,  through 


66  WESTERN    AGENCY 

personal  conversation  on  religious  matters,  to  bring 
a  message  to  the  individual,  special  literature  dealing 
with  Mormon  doctrines  being  provided.  The  second 
object  is  to  supply  every  home  with  a  Bible,  the 
Word  being  expounded,  its  claims  discussed,  and 
every  home  urged  to  buy  and  to  study  reverently 
God's  Word.  The  third  objective  is  the  conducting 
of  evangelistic  sendees.  During  the  year  10,913  calls 
were  made  by  colporteurs — reaching  approximately 
60,000  people,  and  selling  2,731  volumes  of  Scriptures 
besides  donating  42  copies. 

The  Task 

"Let  our  readers  not  fail  to  place  the  proper  im- 
portance upon  this  work.  Imagine  the  task  of  travel- 
ing by  horse  and  wagon  over  thousands  of  square 
miles,  and  canvassing  103  towns  or  villages  ranging  in 
population  from  100  to  30,000.  And  here  is  the 
climax  and  ultimate  proof  of  the  need  of  this  work. 
Only  nine  of  the  places  visited,  so  far  as  we  know, 
had  even  so  much  local  Christian  work  as  a  family 
Sabbath  school." 

Unexpected  Helpers   and  Purchasers 

Another  worker  in  Utah  is  the  Rev.  William  Hutton, 
connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  who  had 
the  joy  of  winning  the  interest  of  a  boy  in  a  Mormon 
family  to  the  reading  of  God's  Word,  and  a  year  or 
two  later  learning  that  he  had  determined  to  be  a 
Presbyterian  preacher  when  he  grew  up.  He  also 
tells  of  a  hotel-keeper's  little  son,  who  induced  his 
father  to  buy  him  a  Testament  on  Saturday,  and  on 
Sunday  not  only  read  two  Gospels  himself,  but  coaxed 
men  sitting  about  the  lobby  to  buy  Testaments  and 
read  and  talk  about  the  Scriptures. 

Sales  in  a  Poolroom 

Mr.  Hutton  says:  "A  poolroom  is  probably  the  last 
place  one  would  think  of  selling  Bibles ;   but  there  is 


WESTERN    AGENCY  67 

no  more  needy  place,  and  so  I  do  not  pass  them  by. 
In  one  of  these  poolrooms,  the  proprietor  bought  a 
Bible  for  himself  and  a  copy  of  Hurlbut's  Story  of 
the  Bible  for  his  children.  Through  his  example  several 
of  the  men  who  were  playing  pool  stopped,  examined 
my  stock,  and  bought  either  a  Bible  or  a  Testament." 

In  Missouri's  Swamps  and  Woods 

A  worker  in  Missouri,  Mr.  Luther  Blackshare,  spent 
much  of  his  time  among  the  settlers  in  the  swamps 
and  woods.  In  order  to  get  to  many  of  the  homes  he 
had  to  walk  on  saw  logs.  Some  houses  were  not 
accessible  on  account  of  the  mud  and  water.  He 
found  many  of  the  people  thankful  to  have  him  call 
and  bring  the  Bible  to  them,  no  minister  ever  having 
called  in  some  of  the  homes. 

In  one  home  a  girl  of  perhaps  sixteen  appeared. 
She  was  keeping  house  for  her  father.  They  had  no 
Bible.  She  said  she  had  been  a  Christian  and  had 
gone  to  a  revival  in  a  nearby  town  on  purpose  to  be 
helped  in  finding  her  way  back  to  God,  but  got  into 
evil  company  and  came  home  further  away  from  God 
than  when  she  went.  She  gladly  accepted  a  Bible 
and  promised  to  go  to  God  in  prayer  and  confession. 

Astonishing  Ignorance 

The  ignorance  of  people  about  the  Bible  is  some- 
times discouraging  and  astonishing.  "One  of  the 
most  influential  business  men  of  the  town  listened  to 
me  while  I  told  him  about  the  Bible,  and,  when  I 
showed  him  my  stock  of  variously  bound  books, 
asked,  '  How  many  different  Bibles  are  there  anyway?' 
He  actually  thought  each  binding  was  a  different 
Bible.  After  a  long  series  of  most  amazing  questions, 
he  bought  a  copy  and  said  he  would  read  it." 

In  Kansas — Teaching  Children 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  W.  Bowie,  faithful  companions 
and  faithful  colporteurs,  completed  another   fruitful 


68 


WESTERN    AGENCY 


year  with  the  Bible  Society.  Equipping  themselves 
with  a  Ford,  they  had  gone  overland,  visiting  scat- 
tered homes  and  putting  emphasis  on  every  child 
having  a  Testament,  reporting  considerable  success 
in  spite  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  some  parents 
and  unconcern  on  the  part  of  others.  They  found 
fewer  families  without  Scriptures  in  Kansas  than  they 
had  ever  before  encountered  under  similar  circum- 
stances. One  remembers  in  this  connection  that 
Kansas  has  been  a  prohibition  state  for  some  time. 

In  Colorado — Helping  the  Sick 

A  devoted  worker,  Mrs.  Lea  M.  Bennett,  had  an 
unusually  eventful  year  in  her  Bible  work  among  the 
sick  in  Denver's  County  Hospital.  She  tells  of  a  very 
sick  man  in  the  tuberculosis  ward,  approaching  sixty 
years  of  age  and  in  great  distress  of  soul  because  of 
the  wicked  life  he  had  led,  who  by  hearing  the  Bible 
read  recalled  its  message  in  his  boyhood  days  and 
ultimately  found  forgiveness  and  peace.  A  deserted 
little  mother,  only  twenty-one  years  old,  who  had 
attempted  to  commit  suicide,  through  the  story  of  the 
wonderful  love  and  forgiveness  of  God  through  Jesus, 
was  transformed  into  a  happy,  radiant-faced  woman  of 
purpose  who  wanted  to  get  well  to  help  others  find 
Him  in  whom  she  had  trusted.  An  old  paralytic, 
blind  for  twenty-seven  years,  had  been  run  over  by 
an  automobile,  but  to  him  the  message  of  the  gospel 
came  with  its  healing,  strengthening  grace,  and, 
though  it  was  a  hard  struggle  for  him  to  give  up  bad 
habits,  he  persevered  and  said  it  was  worth  while 
being  run  over,  because  he  was  happier  now  than  he 
ever  had  been  in  his  life. 

Conclusion 

"  Truly  the  Word  of  God  accomplishes  marvelous 
things  when  received  by  a  penitent  heart  and  ac- 
cepted in  faith  and  trust." 


Pacific  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:   Rev.  A.  W'km.ky  Mell 
122  McAllister  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Established  1907.  Field:  California,  Nevada,  Washington,  and  Oregon. 
Circulation  in  1919,  75,014  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since 
1907,  986,739  volumes. 

The  report  of  this  elongated  and  important  Agency 
discloses  a  variety  in  work,  alertness  and  audacity 
in  method,  and  vigor  and  joy  in  service,  that  are 
stimulating.  The  Scriptures  were  circulated  in  the 
64  languages  and  dialects  named  on  page  40.  It  is 
no  small  matter  either  that  the  Scriptures  were  avail- 
able in  so  many  languages,  or  that  they  were  desired 
by  peoples  of  so  many  tongues.  And  it  is  even  better 
to  know  that  many  of  these  Scriptures  have  been  dis- 
tributed by  those  whose  knowledge  of  the  language 
concerned,  and  love  for  the  Word  itself,  have  helped 
to  win  a  welcome  to  the  message.  Mr.  Mell  was  for- 
tunate in  having  many  fellow-workers  who  use  Italian, 
others  who  use  Spanish,  Swedish,  Chinese,  German, 
Finnish,  and  Japanese,  as  well  as  the  languages  of 
other  nations. 

Increased  Co-operation 

Glad  record  is  made  of  the  fact  that  there  was  a 
larger  co-operation  on  the  part  of  regular  church 
workers,  interdenominational  agencies,  and  inde- 
pendent self-supporting  missionaries  and  personal 
workers.  By  the  aid  of  240  such  volunteers,  the  7 
colporteurs  and  91  correspondents,  covering  31,148 
miles  of  travel,  visited  over  15,173  families  and  sup- 
plied 2,068  of  the  3,080  found  without  the  Scriptures. 
The  circulation  was  9,027  Bibles,  14,722  Testaments, 
and  51,265  portions,  a  total  of  75,014  volumes,  slightly 
exceeding  the  circulation  of  the  year  before. 

Extra  Agency  Work 

Mr.  Mell  gave  some  time  to  special  work  in  New 
York,  assisting  in  the  preparation  of  the  Bible  So- 


70  PACIFIC    AGENCY 

ciety's  exhibit  for  the  Methodist  Centenary  cele- 
bration at  Columbus,  Ohio.  His  annual  report, 
like  his  Agency,  is  large  and,  like  his  methods, 
is  varied.  Only  a  few  of  the  many  interesting 
features  can  be  here  presented  without  endeavoring 
in  each  case  to  give  credit  to  the  individual  con- 
cerned. 

Here  is  something  of  value,  not  only  for  its 
interest,  but  for  its  suggestion.  It  comes  from 
a  lady  volunteer  who  has  sent  out  the  Word  in  a 
score  of  languages. 

A  Stimulating  and  Suggestive  Example 

"Your  Bibles  and  Gospels  have  found  an  entrance 
into  the  Isolation  Hospital,  among  the  lepers,  where 
there  are  many  nationalities.  I  rejoice  whenever  I 
see  an  ash-wagon,  for  it  gives  me  another  opportunity 
to  plant  the  seed  in  the  heart  of  an  Italian.  Some 
one  said  to  me  sometime  ago,  '  Oh,  you  seem  to  know 
just  the  word  to  give  away  and  the  nationalities.' 
I  replied,  'Just  begin  to  give  God's  Word  among  the 
different  nationalities,  and  you,  too,  will  soon  see  in 
just  what  work  they  are  divided.  You  will  find  the 
cement  workers  are  Italians  and  the  bootblacks  are 
Greeks  and  Italians,  and  the  restaurant  owners 
Greeks,  etc.  I  praise  the  Lord  he  has  opened  my 
eyes,  and  I  no  longer  pass  them  by,  but  grasp  even 
the  open  door  and  heart  for  God's  Word,  that  he 
promises  shall  never  return  to  him  void. 

"Oh,  that  every  follower  would  daily  pass  along  His 
Word  to  the  milkman,  the  grocery  man,  the  ashman, 
the  gardener,  and  all  the  neighborhood — Jew  and 
Gentiles,  Filipino  butlers  and  French  maids  in  the 
neighborhood!  Our  Heavenly  Father  is  expecting 
us — every  one  of  his  family — to  witness  and  dis- 
tribute his  love  letter  to  us,  the  Bible,  beginning 
at  Jerusalem  and  Samaria,  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  world." 


PACIFIC    AGENCY  71 

Fact  and  Results 

A  worker  in  Portland  found  a  man  standing  on  the 
street  looking  with  a  critical  eye  at  a  new  building. 
It  was  not  difficult  to  get  into  conversation,  with  that 
opening,  and  the  result  was: 

"I  gave  him  the  Book  of  John  and  I  marked  the 
following  verses:  John  5:24;  6:37;  1:29;  8:10-11; 
7:17;  15:11;  10:27,  28,  29.  In  about  four  weeks  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  asking  me  to  come  and  see  him.  This 
I  did  and  found  a  home  where  the  family  altar  had 
been  established;  he  had  become  a  member  of  the 
church  and  he  told  me  that  the  Scripture  in  the  Book 
of  John  which  was  given  him  led  him  to  Jesus  Christ." 

A  Happy  Frenchman 

Mention  has  been  made  on  an  earlier  page  of  a 
fine-looking  Frenchman  who  greeted  Mr.  Ole  Johnson 
with  the  words,  "I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  again. 
Seven  years  ago  you  and  your  wife  were  in  Tacoma, 
Washington.  You  were  in  an  auto  and  I  bought  a 
French  Testament  from  you,  and  I  found  Jesus 
through  that  little  book,  and  he  makes  me  now  very 
happy." 

Work  has  been  carried  on  among  the  Indians,  the 
logging  camps,  the  border  Mexicans.  Also  among 
transient  Asiatic  seamen  at  San  Pedro,  on  Puget 
Sound,  the  Columbia  River,  and  San  Francisco  Bay. 
Mr.  Zimmerman,  who  obtained  a  "gospel  boat"  for 
such  work  in  San  Francisco  harbor,  mentions  many 
interesting  results  of  his  316  visits  to  the  ships  of  all 
nations,  in  which  he  distributed  418  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments and  6,791  Gospels. 

Sailors  of  Many  Nations 

Two  hundred  Dutch  soldiers  on  one  cargo  vessel 
had  not  a  single  Testament,  and  two  hundred  hands 
went  up  to  get  the  dozen  that  \v ere  available :  more 


72  PACIFIC    AGENCY 

were  brought  and  all  were  satisfied.  Only  the  chief 
engineer  on  a  Nippon  freighter  had  a  Bible :  he  had 
been  to  a  mission  school  in  Japan  and  learned  there 
to  love  and  carry  his  Bible  with  him.  The  only  one, 
of  many  Japanese  offered  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures, 
who  ever  declined,  could  not  read  or  write.  "A 
Japanese  chief  officer  who  was  found  to  be  a  constant 
reader  of  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  given  to  him 
two  years  before  on  a  previous  visit  testified,  'Jesus 
is  very  precious  to  me.'"  Spanish  Scriptures  aroused 
the  interest  of  those  on  a  Peruvian  ship,  who  eagerly 
sought  copies,  none  of  them  having  a  Bible.  "On 
a  Japanese  liner  both  the  officers  and  crew  were  with- 
out Scriptures:  the  chief  officer  took  a  Testament, 
looked  it  over  and  said,  '  I  don't  know  how  to  become 
a  Christian ' ;  he  was  shown,  and  he  took  the  Lord 
at  his  word  and  also  the  Book  itself  gladly. "  "The 
Testament  given  a  young  Chinese  made  the  way  clear, 
and  he  went  his  way  rejoicing. "  "A  young  apprentice 
having  a  Christian  mother  was  writing  a  letter  home 
when  he  was  shown  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures:  he 
said,  '  My  mother  is  praying  for  me,  I  know  it ' ;  he 
read  parts  of  the  book  shown  him  and  before  I  left 
him  he  said,  'I  will  settle  it  now';  he  promised  to 
finish  the  letter  in  the  right  way  by  writing  home 
the  good  news." 

Volunteer  Street  Preachers 

Considerable  space  is  given  in  the  full  report  to  the 
voluntary  service  of  a  devoted  layman,  Mr.  Caulkins, 
who  has  been  doing  preaching  on  street  corners  in 
San  Francisco  and  distributing  Scriptures  in  this  con- 
nection. Many  have  been  reached.  Among  them 
was  a  wealthy  man  who  frequented  the  street  preach- 
ing and  finally,  through  it,  was  led  into  a  happy 
Christian  experience,  and  himself  participated  in  the 
preaching.  Two  young  fellows,  showing  marks  of 
dissipation,  were  also  reached  through  the  study  of 


PACIFIC    AGENCY  73 

the  Word  and,  while  undergoing  a  "cure,"  "took  wil  1 
them  a  little  Gospel  of  John  and  found  in  Christ  the 
real  'blood  cure.'" 

In  Nevada 

A  colporteur  in  Nevada  tells  of  an  experience  which 
would  be  encouraging  to  any  worker.  "Some  of  the 
pastors  accompanied  me  in  my  house-to-house  visi- 
tation in  the  towns.  Others  took  me  in  their  autos 
to  visit  people  in  the  more  sparsely  settled  country 
districts.  Some  of  the  church  people  were  also  very 
helpful  in  this  respect."  Conditions  in  Nevada  were 
found  to  be  improving,  largely  through  the  introduc- 
tion of  prohibition. 

A  Layman's  Activities 

C.  W.  Anguish,  layman  of  the  Free-  Methodist 
Church  in  Washington,  is  the  Sunday-school  secretary 
of  the  Puget  Sound  Conference,  and  is  making  a  special 
campaign  to  get  the  children  to  reading  and  memo- 
rizing the  Scriptures.  Though  a  layman  and  without 
salary,  he  has  spent  about  100  days  in  this  service, 
and  traveled  some  2,000  miles.  Mentioning  several 
instances,  he  concludes:  "I  have  secured  pledges 
from  1,500,  young  and  old,  to  memorize  a  verse  and 
to  read  a  chapter  of  Scripture  each  day." 

By  Aeroplane 

One  of  the  arresting  features  of  the  year's  report 
is  the  use  made  of  the  aeroplane  for  Scripture  circula- 
tion. The  first  lot  was  a  consignment  from  San 
Francisco  across  the  Bay  to  a  convention  in  Sacra- 
mento. It  consisted  of  2,000  Gospels  of  John,  each 
having  stamped  on  the  cover  the  outline  of  an  aero- 
plane with  the  words,  "A  Message  from  Heaven, 
Delivered  by  Aeroplane."  Later,  in  celebration  of 
Universal  Bible  Day,  6,000  similar  volumes  were  sent 
to  the  Church  Federation  of  Los  Angeles,  over  the 


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PACIFIC    AGENCY  75 

Tehachapi  Mountains,  the  Church  Federation  of 
San  Prancisco  1  icing  represented  at  the  dedicatory 
services.  Still  later,  Scriptures  were  similarly  distrib- 
uted in  celebration  of  Christmas  to  the  inmates  of 
the  great  state  penitentiaries  at  Folsom  and  San 
Quentin  and  the  military  prisons  around  San  Fran- 
cisco  Bay. 

Christmas  Gifts  to  Prisoners 

"The  American  Bible  Society  had  charge  of  the  ar- 
rangements and  was  to  provide  souvenir  Gospels  of 
St.  John.  The  Jewish  community,  through  the  kind 
co-operation  of  Rabbi  Martin  A.  Meyer,  provided 
Psalms,  and  the  Catholics,  through  the  Paulist 
Fathers,  provided  a  little  manual  of  Scripture  verses 
and  several  prayers.  These  were  packed  separately, 
but  went  in  the  same  cargo  with  the  Scriptures  from 
the  American  Bible  Society.  The  California  Sunday- 
School  Association  paid  the  expenses  of  the  aeroplane 
for  San  Quentin  and  Folsom  and  the  hydroplane  for 
the  San  Francisco  Bay  prisons;  the  Young  People's 
Societies,  the  Christian  Endeavors,  the  Epworth 
Leagues,  and  the  Salvation  Army  provided  sweets  to 
be  delivered  to  San  Quentin,  and  the  Salvation  Army 
to  the  other  prisons,  while  Southern  California  Orange 
Growers,  through  the  kind  co-operation  of  Dr.  Hay- 
wood, provided  an  orange  for  each  prisoner  at  San 
Quentin. 

"With  prayer  and  benediction,  the  huge  hydroplane, 
piloted  by  Dan  Davison,  who  carried  the  2,000  Scrip- 
tures to  Sacramento  and  the  6,000  over  the  mountains 
to  Los  Angeles,  sailed  across  the  San  Francisco  Bay, 
and  in  circling  flight  over  the  great  military  disciplin- 
ary school  at  Alcatraz,  dropped  a  bundle  of  Scrip- 
tures for  the  prisoners,  to  the  awaiting  chaplain  and 
officials ;  and  then  after  sailing  over  Angel  Island  and 
dropping  some  Scriptures  there  for  Miss  Mauer,  the 
deaconess,  and  our  co-worker  among  the  emigrants, 


76  PACIFIC    AGENCY 

the  big  hydroplane  flew  north  across  the  waters  to 
the  world-famed  San  Quentin  penitentiary.  It  circled 
the  prison  four  times.  The  2,000  prisoners  were  out 
in  the  court -yard  and  it  seemed  as  though  every 
officer  was  on  top  of  the  walls  or  buildings  to  welcome 
the  coming  of  the  plane  with  the  Word  of  God.  The 
hydroplane  landed  on  the  water,  where  it  was  met 
by  a  boat  from  the  prison,  and  the  transfer  of  the  2,000 
Scriptures  was  made  to  the  prison  officials.  They 
were  distributed,  with  a  package  of  candy,  to  each 
one  of  the  prisoners.  Two  large  bundles  of  California 
red  berries  were  also  sent  to  the  prison  with  the 
Scriptures.  The  Chaplain's  letter  of  thanks  said  in 
part,  'The  whole  has  proved  interesting,  and  from 
all  reports  very  highly  beneficial  to  the  men.'" 

Help  Out  of  the  Sky 

As  will  be  readily  understood,  all  of  these  occasions 
aroused  much  interest.  Souvenir  copies  were  eagerly 
sought.  One  remarkable  incident  is  reported:  "A 
broken-hearted  young  woman  was  in  a  Los  Angeles 
cemetery  selecting  a  spot  in  which  on  the  morrow  to 
lay  the  form  of  her  dear  mother.  Overcome  with 
grief  and  unutterable  loneliness  of  heart,  all  seemed 
dark.  Suddenly  there  fell  at  her  feet,  out  of  the  sky, 
like  a  pearl  blown  from  a  rose,  a  tiny  copy  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John.  She  was  attracted  by  the  name, 
as  her  mother  had  come  from  St.  Johns,  New  Bruns- 
wick, and,  opening  it,  her  eyes  fell  on  the  fourteenth 
chapter,  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled.***  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you."  And  her  heart  was  com- 
forted and  courage  strengthened.  It  had  come  4,000 
feet  through  the  air  from  an  aeroplane  which  had 
passed,  unnoticed,  over  her." 

"We  often  think  how  it  would  interest  Mr.  PfeifTer, 
the  Frenchman,  who,  in  1914,  studied  aviation  with 
a  view  of  dropping  Gospels  upon  the  crowds  at  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition.     Mr.   PfeifTer  had  been 


PACIFIC    AGENCY  77 

converted  by  reading  a  New  Testament  given  to  him 
when  he  landed  at  Ellis  Island.  His  joy  was  great, 
and  he  felt  that  the  one  way  above  all  others  to  bring 
men  to  Christ  was  to  get  them  to  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment. So,  when  he  came  to  San  Francisco,  he  spent 
half  of  his  salary  purchasing  French  Testaments  and 
Gospels  for  distribution  in  the  San  Francisco  French 
and  Italian  quarters,  but  he  could  not  reach  as  many 
this  way  as  he  desired,  and  when,  in  1914,  an  aero- 
plane school  was  opened  by  Mr.  ChristofTerson  in  San 
Francisco,  he  became  a  pupil  of  aviation  and  sent  to 
France  for  his  engine,  and  expected  to  become  a 
Gospel  distributor,  dropping  Gospels  from  the  clouds 
in  San  Francisco.  He  expected  each  copy  to  be  beau- 
tifully and  artistically  bound  and  souvenired.  The 
war  broke  out.  Immediately  he  joined  the  colors  in 
France.  His  own  plan  failed,  but  the  suggestion  bears 
fruit  to-day." 

Jews 

Mr.  Mell  closes  his  report  with  this  interesting 
statement :  ' '  There  has  undoubtedly  been  among  the 
Jews  a  new  interest  in  the  Word  of  God.  Colporteurs 
and  correspondents  have  testified  of  the  increased 
willingness  of  the  Jews  to  purchase  the  Scriptures, 
New  as  well  as  Old  Testaments,  and  a  number  of 
times  Jews  have  come  to  the  depository  and  have 
purchased  the  whole  Bible.  Only  recently  three  Jews 
came  into  the  depository  and  purchased  a  Bible  for 
$17.50,  and  wanted  to  make  very  sure  that  the  New 
Testament  was  in  the  volume;  and  one  of  these  men, 
who  confessed  that  he  had  never  read  the  New 
Testament,  purchased  the  whole  Bible  in  special 
leather  binding,  as  a  present  to  his  son." 


Southwestern  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  J.  J.  Morgan 
1304  Commerce  Street,  Dallas,  Texas. 

Established  1907.  Field:  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas. 
Circulation  in  1919,  69,217  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since 
1907,  981,506. 

The  happy  effect  of  prohibition,  the  regrettable 
depletion  of  stock  limiting  the  circulation,  the  de- 
mand for  family  Bibles  and  whole  Bibles  and  the 
sale  of  1,400  Spanish  Scriptures  in  fifteen  days  by  one 
worker  are  a  few  of  the  striking  facts  of  the  year. 
It  saw  the  Scriptures  circulated  in  40  languages  in 
this  area:  12,891  being  Bibles,  26,653  Testaments,  and 
29,673  portions — a  total  of  69,217  volumes.  Home 
missionaries  rendered  valuable  assistance. 

Many  Things  Different 

Rejoicing  in  a  valued  colporteur  and  linguist,  the 
Rev.  F.  K.  Ringsmuth,  who  speaks  nine  languages 
and  dialects,  Mr.  Morgan  gives  his  interesting  story, 
from  which  we  can  take  but  little:  "I  observed  many 
things  which  seemed  to  me  entirely  different  from 
what  I  experienced  three  years  ago.  There  is  a  real 
healthy  hunger  after  the  Word  of  God  now,  while 
some  years  ago  there  was  among  miners  a  general 
contempt  for  the  Bible." 

A  Babylon  of  Religions 

"In  my  house-to-house  work  I  encountered  many 
interesting  incidents.  It  is  astonishing  how  many 
queer  and  erroneous  views  are  held  by  people  these 
days — a  veritable  Babylon  of  religions.  People  do 
not  know  what  they  believe.  The  'Red  Letter 
Bible'  contributes  to  that.  I  find  people  who  are 
sure  that  only  the  things  printed  in  red  ink  are  of 
God;  all  the  rest  is  'just  history.'"  He  rejoices  in 
the  fruit  of  his  labor,  as  well  he  may. 


SOUTHWESTERN    AGENCY 


79 


A  Chain  and  New  Life 

Through  the  making  of  a  chain  of  verses  in  the  Bible 
a  woman  is  led  to  a  new  life.  "She  laughed  and 
cried  and  kissed  the  Book  and  wanted  to  kiss  my 
hands.  She  was  an  American,  married  four  years  to 
a  miner,  and  was  never  in  a  church  since  her  mar- 
riage."    An  old,  invalid,  forsaken  man  visited,  and  a 


COLPORTEUR    WILLIAMS,     A    FULL-BLOODED    CHOCTAW 

For  work  among  Indians,  as  Armenians,  Bohemians,  Chinese,  Hungarians, 

Greeks,  Japanese,  etc.,  are  used  to  reach  their  countrymen  in  America. 

young  couple  restored  to  faith,  were  others  of  whom 
he  tells  with  gladness. 

"Why,"  Indeed? 
An  Italian  purchased  two  Bibles  and  a  New  Testa- 
ment in  defiance  of  a  priest's  order  and  threat,  saying : 
"The  priest  has  the  Bible,  we  know.     If  it  is  not  an 
evil  thing  for  him,  why  should  it  be  for  us?" 


80 


SOUTHWESTERN    A.GENI  V 


The  Mexican  Border 

Of  peculiar  importance  was  a  three  months'  can- 
vass oi  the  Mexican  border  made  l>v  our  native 
Mexican  colporteurs,  LuisV.  Rodriguez  and  Reynaldo 
Torres  Not  less  than  (>,()()()  Mexicans  were  supplied 
with  Scriptures  at  this  time.  Weregret  thai  we  have 
only  a  brief  accounl  of  their  work  a1  Laredo  for  pub- 
lical ion  in  this  Stori 

On  (he   International   Bridge 

"  I  sold  many  Bibles  to  some  of  the  most  prominenl 
men  of  Laredo  and  to  the  employees  of  the  custom- 
houses on  both  sides  of  the  [nternational  bridge. 
Some  of  the  employees  of  the  Mexican  custom-house 
paid  fifty  cents  for  the  Gospels  and  Proverbs,  saying 
that  they  would  give  the  money  left  to  furnishing 
Gospels  to  poor  families  that  could  not  afford  to  pay 
tor  them. 

Mexican  Protestants  Unite  in  Honoring  God's  Word 

"In  Laredo,  Texas,  a  group  oi  Mexicans  bought  a 
good  number  ^\  Gospels,  that  were  given  to  the  chil- 
dren o\  poor  families.  All  this  stimulated  the  Chris- 
linn  people  and  aroused  their  interest  in  the  propa- 
ganda o\  the  Bible.  They  all  agreed  to  hold  a  public 
meeting,  ami  it  was  advertised  in  the  Mexican  press 
o\  the  city.  We  held  the  public  meeting  in  the  prin- 
cipal plaza  ^^  the  city  and  it  was  largely  attended. 
The  people  that  gathered  around  were  not  only  eon- 
tent  to  listen  to  the  Word  ^\  God,  but  many  o\  them 
bought    hooks  to  read   in   their  homes." 

In   Louisiana 

It  is  estimated  that  SO  per  cent.  ^\  the  homes  o\ 
Southern  Louisiana  are  without  a  single  COpy  ^\ 
God's  Word,  and  this  is  chiefly  because  the  Roman 
Catholic    priests    object     to    the     Bible,     whether    it 


w  i      ii  RN    AGENCY  81 

Is  a  ( Catholic  or  Protestanl  Bible,  telling  i  he  parents 
that  they  cannol  understand  the  former,  and  thai  the 
lal  ter  "  is  full  i  »f  lies  "  One  oi  the  w<  >i  ker  i  .1 
"Bible  distribution  in  Southern  Louisiana  is  very 
discouraging,  Doors  of  Roman  Catholic  houses  are 
shut     ordered  closed  by  priesl 

"  R.F.D."  Box  Helps 
One  colporteur  tactfully  pul  a  Gospel  in  the  mail 
boxes  on  a  country  road.  A  girl  thus  found  the  Gospel 
of  Luke  and  read  it.  The  priesl  discovering  it,  threw 
ii  into  the  fire,  angrily  saying:  "This  book  is  pro- 
hibited by  the  I  [0I3  Mother  ( )hurch  "  Bui  the  truth 
had  begun  to  make  her  free,  so  she  soughl  and  ob- 
tainei  I  an<  »1  her  ( r<  »sj  >el. 

Suspicious  and  inhospitable 

"( Creoles  are  markedly  suspicious  and  inhospitable. 

One  evening  ]  was  ten  miles  away  fr a  livery  stable. 

It  had  been  raining  and  the  roads  were  very  muddy. 
After  repeated  failures  to  find  a  lodging,  I  had  decided 
to  stop  alongside  of  the  road,  when  someone  directed 
me  a  mile  away  to  a  man  who  would  surely  take  me  in. 

"'Impossible!  We  have  hardly  room  enough  for 
ourselves,'  he  said.  I  then  asked  to  be  admitted  into 
his  barnyard,  saying  thai  I  could  resl  in  my  wagon 
The  man  became  visibly  nervous  and  stammered  that 
he  was  riot  the  owner  oi  the  place.  'The  proprietor 
is  a  kind  of  queer  man,'  he  said,  after  he  had  recov- 
ered. 'He  had  me  swear  thai  I  would  never  let  a 
drummer  or  any  stranger  stop  here  overnight.  Should 
it  become  known  thai  a  stranger  is  spending  the 
iindit  on  our  premises,  I'm  sure  they  would  set  fire 
to  the  buildings  and  you  would  be  charged  with  the 
crime 

"  I  had  to  follow  my  former  plan.  I  )riving  my 
wagon  ali  >ng  iide  of  t  he  road  in  fronl  of  his  gate,  I 
unharnessed  my  horse,  hitched  him  to  a  pecan  tree, 


82  SOUTHWESTERN    AGENCY 

and  returned  to  my  bed  on  wheels.  After  an  hour 
or  so  I  was  awakened  by  a  shout  from  the  yard. 
Lifting  up  a  blind  of  my  wagon,  I  saw  by  the  light 
of  the  moon  the  farmer  standing  at  a  distance,  with 
a  long  rifle  in  his  hands.  'Do  you  expect  to  spend 
all  night  here?'  he  said.  'I  have  to  spend  it  some- 
where,' I  answered.  'No  doubt  you  have,'  was  his 
reply;  'but  it  would  be  safer  for  you  should  you 
drive  a  few  miles  farther.'  'It  must  be  a  dangerous 
place,  indeed,  since  you  cannot  go  out  at  night  with- 
out a  long  gun,'  I  replied.  '  But  both  I  and  my  horse 
are  too  tired  to  go  any  further  for  the  present.  You 
had  better  keep  watch  over  me  while  I  rest.  I  will 
be  here  until  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.' " 

In  New  Orleans 

Mr.  Fernand  Cattelain,  a  former  colporteur  in  the 
West  Indies,  spent  a  part  of  the  fall  in  New  Orleans, 
starting  Bible  work  and  finding  it  a  very  difficult 
field.  "The  illiteracy,  poverty,  and  unbelievable 
living  conditions  remind  you  of  India  and  China," 
said  a  pastor.  "  In  the  city  of  New  Orleans  we  found 
over  fifty  stores  where  articles  for  Catholics  could  be 
bought,  but  in  none  of  these  could  a  Bible  be  obtained." 
Nevertheless  there  was  a  refreshing  fact  stated  by 
a  minister,  that  a  mission  church,  now  having  about 
two  hundred  members,  in  Lafourche,  was  the  direct 
result  of  the  work  of  a  colporteur  of  the  American 
Bible  Society. 

Arkansas 

A  sad  blow  fell  on  the  sub-depository  and  the  Rev. 
D.  H.  Colquette  in  charge  at  Little  Rock,  through  a 
fire  which  destroyed  a  large  part  of  the  stock.  How- 
ever, the  work  has  been  pressed  on.  The  prisoners, 
the  blind,  and  the  poor  have  been  supplied,  though 
here  again  comes  the  good  word  that  prisons  and 
pauper  institutions  are  decreasing  in  population,  and 


SOUTHWESTERN   AGENCY  83 

also  in  actual  number,  since  the  introduction  of  pro- 
hibition. "In  the  days  when- saloons  were  running 
in  Fort  Smith,  I  happen  to  know  that  often  the  old 
prison  was  so  full  of  men  and  boys  that  you  could 
almost  see  it  'breathe'  Only  two  negro  boys  were 
anywhere  about  the  institution  when  recently  visited." 

Volunteers 

Among  the  voluntary  helpers  is  mentioned  a  pro- 
prietor of  a  marble  factory,  who  kept  a  stock  of  Scrip- 
tures and  succeeded  in  selling  many  right  among  his 
other  wares.  A  mechanic  in  a  railroad  shop  set  aside 
a  portion  of  his  tool-chest  for  Scriptures,  and  at  the 
noon  hour  and  other  convenient  times  sold  them  to 
his  fellow-laborers.  A  cripple  was  met  who  seemed 
ever  ready  to  spend  his  spare  cash  for  the  Scriptures, 
distributing  them  among  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. 

There  Is  no  God 

There  is  food  for  anxious  thought  on  the  part  of 
those  who  care  for  the  future  of  America,  in  the 
concluding  paragraphs  of  Mr.  Morgan's  report,  which 
we  here  give: 

"There  are  100,000  Bohemians  in  Texas.  They  are, 
for  the  most  part,  thrifty  farmers,  scattered  about  in 
the  best  farming  sections  of  the  state.  Many  are 
Roman  Catholics ;  very  few  are  Protestants ;  while  the 
present-day  drift  is  toward  infidelity  organized  among 
them  as  the  Society  of  Free-Thinkers.  Their  cate- 
chism teaches  the  following  damnable  tenets: 
"  (1)  God:  is  a  word  representing  an  imaginary  being 

which  people  themselves  have  wrorked  out. 
"(2)  Jesus  Christ:  The  illegitimate  son  of  a  virgin 

named  Mary. 
"(3)  Bible:  Written  by  ordinary  men ;  record  of  no- 
tions, not  events;  undependable ;  unbelievable." 


Eastern  Agency 

Agency  Secretary: 

Rev.  II.  J.  Scudder,  B.  D.,  January-September; 
Rev.  Samuel  C.  Benson,  October-December. 
137  Montague  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Established  1908.  Field:  The  State  of  New  York  and  neighboring  regions 
not  otherwise  cared  for.  Circulation  during  1919,  58,323  volumes. 
Aggregate  circulation  since  1908,  600,932. 

A  double  report  is  presented  this  year — the  first 
part  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Scudder,  and  the  latter  part 
from  Mr.  Benson,  under  circumstances  already  men- 
tioned. An  interesting  and  instructive  variety  of 
means  and  methods  of  Bible  circulation  in  this  popu- 
lous, though  somewhat  limited,  Agency,  is  set  forth. 

Variety  in  Means  and  Method 

County  fairs,  the  active  and  financial  co-operation 
of  local  Auxiliaries,  the  assistance  of  volunteers,  the 
joyous,  devoted,  and  fruitful  activities  of  the  em- 
ployed workers,  a  motor  boat  and  a  motor  bus,  the 
aid  of  special  funds,  provided  through  the  legacies  of 
Bible  lovers  for  work  in  certain  areas,  and  other  in- 
fluences, have  produced  a  circulation  of  Scriptures 
nearly  double  that  of  the  previous  year. 

Accomplishment 

In  39  languages  and  dialects,  9,583  Bibles,  12,023 
Testaments,  and  36,717  portions,  or  a  total  of  58,323 
volumes,  were  circulated  in  1919,  as  against  30,393 
in  1918.  The  Agency  is  unfortunate  in  having  a  very 
small  force,  because  of  limited  funds;  but  it  is  fortu- 
nate in  the  quality  of  this  force,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  the  Agency  Secretaries. 

Mr.  Carlson,  who  had  been  with  the  Agency  for 
some  years  and  had  lost  health  through  his  untiring 
activities,  had  to  devote  a  part  of  the  year  to  recti]  >era- 
tion,  but  during  this  time  was  able  to  realize  the  ac 
complishment   of   his   long-desired   object — the   pur- 


EASTERN    AGENCY  85 

chase  of  a  good-sized  motor  1><>at  to  work  along 
the  water  front  of  Brooklyn  and  other  parts  of  the 
harbor. 

Another  faithful  and  valiant  worker,  Mr.  I).  II. 
Findlay,  sends  in  much  of  interest.  He  has  continued 
his  special  activities  in  displaying  the  Bible  Society's 
wares  at  county  fairs,  exercising  considerable  origi- 
nality and  versatility  in  competition  with  the  vendors 
of  other  articles.     He  writes: 

Pocket  Mirrors  with  a  Telescope  Attachment 

' '  When  I  came  off  the  car  at  Canandaigua  the  other 
day,  I  had  my  two  large  boxes  in  my  hands,  and  I  can 
tell  you  they  were  heavy;  especially  when  you  have 
about  half  a  mile  to  walk  from  the  car  to  the  grounds. 
Well,  as  I  was  going  along  two  men  came  walking 
beside  me  and  began  talking  about  the  fair  as  usual; 
and  when  we  were  almost  at  the  gate,  one  of  them  said 
to  me,  'And  what  may  you  be  selling,  Mister?'  'Oh,' 
I  said,  'I  am  selling  pocket  mirrors  with  a  telescope 
attachment.  Come  over  there,'  I  said,  pointing 
out  where  my  exhibit  was  to  be,  'and  I  will  show  you 
something  worth  while.'  Well,  I  did  not  get  them 
until  afternoon,  but  I  got  them  all  right.  'Whe're 
those  mirrors,  Boss?'  one  said.  'Right  here,'  I  said, 
holding  out  the  Bible.  I  began  to  read  from  James 
1 :  23,  24 — the  mirror — and  also  Isaiah  45 :  22 — the 
telescope  attachment.  Well,  praise  the  Lord!  I  sold 
them  each  a  Bible  and  had  a  heart-to-heart  talk  with 
them  also." 

Definite  Results 

But  this  has  not  been  his  only  line  of  activity. 
"During  the  past  nine  months,  the  dear  Lord  has 
used  me  in  getting  nine  men  and  women  to  become 
church  members,  and  they  are  worthy  of  the  name, 
for  they  are  Bible  Christians,  searching  the  Scriptures 
daily  for  themselves." 


CHAPLAIN   BENSON  AT  THE  END  OF  HIS   HIKE   ACKOSS  NEW  YORK 

Getting  acquainted  with  his  field,  while  circulating  the  Scriptures. 


EASTERN    AGENCY  87 

After  Many  Days 

"  About  ten  days  ago  a  lady  called  to  see  me  about 
Bibles  for  a  young  ladies'  class.  After  she  had  secured 
what  she  wanted,  she  said:  'Mr.  Findlay,  I  am 
ashamed  I  have  been  so  long  in  telling  you  this  story, 
but  I  know  you  are  not  working  for  praise:  you 
are  working  for  results.  Five  years  ago  you  were  call- 
ing in  our  district,  and  you  came  to  my  door.  My 
husband  happened  to  be  at  home  that  day,  praise  the 
dear  Lord;  he  was  always  a  good  man,  although  a 
Roman  Catholic.  Well,  you  and  he  had  it  out  that 
day.  If  you  remember,  he  brought  you  the  books  he 
loved  to  read  and  you  said  to  him,  "They  are  fine; 
but  they  are  only  man  talking  to  man.  Here  is  a 
book  where  God  himself  is  talking  to  you  and  me. " '  I 
did  not  sell  him  a  Bible,  and  yet  I  did,  for  I  sold  him 
the  31  portions  with  the  little  cover,  and  also  secured 
from  him  the  promise  that  he  would  read  the  Word 
for  himself.  He  is  one  of  our  business  men  here  and 
has  now  been  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  for  over 
four  years.  Continuing  the  story,  the  lady  said: 
'This  summer  we  had  some  of  our  friends  from  the 
West  staying  with  us,  and  they,  knowing  that  he  was 
a  great  reader,  asked  him  one  day  at  the  table  who 
was  his  favorite  author  now.  Well,  Mr.  Findlay, 
when  I  saw  him  go  for  his  box  of  portions,  I  just  cried 
for  joy.  "This  Bible  is  my  favorite  book  now  and 
has  been  for  the  past  five  years.  I  will  never  forget 
what  brought  the  change;  when  that  Bible  man  stood 
before  me  holding  out  his  book,  he  said,  '  This  is  God 
himself  talking  to  you  and  me — read  it  for  yourself ' ; 
and  I  did,  praise  the  Lord. " ' 

A  New  Worker  and  Real  Work 

Mr.  A.  B.  Traina  is  a  new  worker  on  the  force,  but 
has  been  able  to  accomplish  a  real  work.  "Please 
note,"  he  writes,  "that  among  2,666  families  visited, 
1,793  had  no  copy  of  the  Bible  nor  a  portion  thereof 


05  EASTERN   AGENCY 

indicating  that  there  is  a  large  portion  of  people  still 
without  the  Word  of  God,  and  some  have  never  heard 
of  it.  In  these  families  I  have  left  a  copy  of  the 
Scriptures  either  by  sale  or  gift,  if  there  was  anyone 
in  the  house  that  could  read.  In  general  the  people 
receive  the  Word  with  gladness.  The  Italian,  Polish 
and  Greek  Catholics  are  easier  to  reach  than  the 
American  or  Irish  Catholics;  and  of  the  latter  class 
they  oftentimes  refuse  even  a  gift  of  Scriptures. 
Among  the  Italians  I  find  that  ninety  per  cent,  of 
those  who  read  are  more  walling  to  buy  than  to  receive 
books  as  gifts,  unless  it  be  on  account  of  sickness." 

A  Gospel  Car 

Feeling  greatly  the  need  of  a  car  to  assist  him  in  his 
work,  Mr.  Traina,  by  much  self-denial,  succeeded  to 
acquire  a  car  that  had  been  used  as  a  'bus.  This  he 
fitted  up  so  that  there  would  be  sleeping  accommoda- 
tions for  two,  and  has  used  the  car  very  effectively 
for  several  months.  He  had  a  number  of  signs  made 
with  texts  and  notices,  in  English  on  one  side  and  in 
Italian  on  the  other,  so  that  they  could  be  used  for 
work  in  the  two  languages. 

"She  Would  not  be  Frightened" 

On  Long  Island  an  old  paralytic  German  Catholic 
lady  delighted  in  having  the  colporteur  read  the  Bible 
to  her.  When  the  priest  learned  of  it  and  "told  her 
she  go  to  hell  and  be  in  pains  forever  after"  she  would 
not  be  frightened  off.  Eventually  she  and  several 
relatives  were  converted. 

Auxiliaries  and  County  Fairs 

The  work  at  county  fairs  has  been  participated  in 
by  different  agencies  and  workers.  The  Ulster  County 
Auxiliary  conducted  a  Bible  booth  at  Ellenville  Fair; 
the  Dutchess  County  French  Bible  Society  met  the 
entire  expense  of  a  similar  work  at  the  Rhinebeck 


EASTERN    AGENCY  89 

Fair,  and  the  Orange  County  Bible  Sociel  y  co-operated 
with  Mr.  D.  A.  Silliman  in  the  fair  at  Middletown, 
New  York.  "The  Treasurer,  M.  Hurtin,  generously 
assisted  at  the  rush  hours,  charging  nothing  for  his 
labors.  We  sold  9  Bibles,  v36  Testaments,  2  por- 
tions, a  total  of  47  books,  and  received  $23.66. 

Three  Missions  Formed 

The  Rev.  A.  M.  D.  Riggio,  "with  his  enthusiastic 
disposition  born  of  his  Italian  blood,  and  his  burning 
religious  passion  born  of  his  love  for  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  people,  inspires  those  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact."  Through  his  colportage  work,  three  mis- 
sions have  been  formed;  one  in  Jamaica,  one  in 
Corona,  and  one  in  Inwood. 

There  is  space  to  simply  quote  a  few  other  inci- 
dents without  mentioning  place  or  person: 

"My  Mother's  Bible" 

"My  mother  died  when  I  was  only  nine  days  old. 
I  had  one  brother  several  years  older  than  myself. 
When  I  was  nine  years  old,  I  said  to  that  brother, 
'John,  I  have  nothing  that  belonged  to  my  mother; 
how  I  wish  I  had  her  Bible!'  So  he  gave  it  to  me, 
and  I  was  so  delighted  that  I  spent  all  my  spare  time 
reading  it.  It  told  of  a  Saviour's  love,  and  very  soon 
I  gave  my  heart  to  Jesus." 

"This  House  Will  Have  a  Bible  Hereafter" 

"Not  many  miles  from  Gouverneur  I  called  upon  a 
well-to-do  farmer,  and  after  showing  him  my  stock 
of  books  he  selected  a  Bible  priced  at  $1.50  and  said 
that  he  would  take  it,  and  passed  me  a  ten-dollar  bill 
in  payment.  After  making  the  change  he  took  the 
Bible  and  remarked,  'There,  wife,  this  house  will 
have  a  Bible  in  it  hereafter.'  '  No  Bible  in  this  house ?' 
said  I.  'No,  Sir,  this  is  the  first  Bible  I  have  ever 
owned.'     He  was  a  man  past  middle  life." 


Central  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  Frank  Marston,  D.I). 
424  Elm  Street,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Established  1909.  Field:  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and 
Mississippi.  Circulation  in  1919,  50,143  volumes.  Aggregate  cir- 
culation since  1909,  733,656  volumes. 

"Contrast"  may  well  be  the  word  that  epitomizes 
tli is  report.  Dr.  Marston,  while  oppressed  by  the 
greatness  of  the  need  and  opportunity,  as  compared 
with  the  supply  of  Scriptures  and  workers,  is  never- 
theless full  of  courageous  determination  and  definite 
plans  for  development.  In  Ohio,  he  contrasts  rural 
and  urban,  the  native-born  American  and  the  in- 
coming foreigner;  in  Kentucky,  the  mountains  of 
the  east  and  the  blue-grass  region  of  the  west;  in 
Alabama,  the  emigration  of  the  colored  to  the 
North,  and  the  immigration  of  foreigners  to  indus- 
trial centers. 

A  force  of  12  colporteurs  and  14  correspondents, 
some  of  whom  worked  only  half  time  and  others  even 
less,  visited  45,000  families,  and  distributed  13,237 
Bibles,  23,615  Testaments,  and  13,291  portions,  or 
50,143  volumes,  in  24  languages.  The  number  of 
complete  Bibles  circulated  were  practically  as  many 
as  the  number  of  portions. 

It  may  help  to  impress  readers  with  the  facts 
which  exist  in  all  the  Home  Agencies  in  varying  de- 
gree if,  from  this  report,  we  make  selections  revealing 
general  conditions,  instead  of  incidents  of  work. 

Character  of  the  Population 

The  very  character  of  the  population  makes  it 
difficult  to  reach  the  people.  The  state  of  Ohio,  for 
instance,  is  made  up  of  a  decidedly  polyglot  popula- 
tion. Here  we  have  the  confusion  of  tongues.  Not 
only  is  it  difficult  to  secure  the  Scriptures  in  the 
languages  spoken,  but  it  is  likewise  difficult  to  get 
men  to  assist   in  the  distribution  who  can  speak  a 


CENTRAL   AGENCY  91 

sufficient   number  of  languages  to  make-  themselves 
understood,  as  they  go  from  house  to  house. 

Difficult  of  Access 

Then  as  to  the  people  in  the  mountains  and  sparsely- 
settled  districts,  they  live  remote  and  are  difficult  of 
access.  Homes  are  more  difficult  to  enter  now  than 
a  few  years  ago.  People  are  more  suspicious  of 
strangers  and  tired  of  the  multiplicity  of  calls  from 
agents  and  solicitors.  The  breaking  up  of  the  old- 
fashioned  individual  home,  and  the  substitution  of 
the  flat  and  apartment  house  "where  people  hide 
themselves  away  like  foxes  in  the  dens  of  the  earth," 
increases  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  colporteur. 
"It  makes  a  woman  mad  to  ring  her  door-bell  these 
days,  and  you  can't  sell  a  Bible  to  a  woman  when 
she  is  mad."  The  labor  question,  the  unrest  of  the 
present  day,  the  high  cost  of  living — all  interfere  with 
the  sale  of  Scriptures. 

Rural  Ohio 

Speaking  of  Ohio,  Dr.  Marston  calls  it  a  "common- 
wealth of  contrasts  and  cleavage  lines."  "We  speak 
of  Ohio  as  the  'mother  of  presidents,'  and  think  of 
her  as  one  of  the  banner  states  of  the  Union.  At  the 
same  time  we  need  to  awake  to  a  sense  of  our  danger 
even  here.  The  facts  revealed  by  the  recent  Ohio 
Rural  Life  Survey,  as  to  the  real  moral  and  spiritual 
conditions  existing  in  some  of  the  counties  of  south- 
eastern Ohio,  are  perfectly  appalling.  Evidently  there 
is  a  great  dearth  of  the  Word  of  God  in  that  whole 
section.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  surveys  made  did 
not  inquire  into  the  situation  of  the  people  as  to  the 
supply  of  Bibles  in  the  homes,  as  well  as  to  the 
supply  of  church  privileges.  Many  country  churches 
were  found  to  be  closed  for  most  of  the  year,  if  not 
entirely  abandoned.  The  country  church  is  constant- 
ly spoken  of  as  the  feeder  to  the  city  churches  and  the 


92  CENTRAL  AGENCY 

source  from  which  comes  the  largest  proportion  of  the 
ministry.  But  if  this  is  the  condition  of  the  country 
church,  what  of  the  city  and  the  ministry?  I  speak  of 
these  things  because  of  the  vital  relation  between 
these  conditions  and  the  Bible  cause.  I  am  convinced 
that  this  distressing  condition  could  never  have  arisen 
in  the  country  had  the  Bible  been  given  its  proper 
place.  When  the  'Book  of  the  Law'  becomes  a  'lost 
book,'  the  temple  doors  are  shut  and  the  nation's  life 
is  imperiled." 

A  Fine  Auxiliary 

The  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  at  Cincinnati,  which 
is  a  part  of  the  Central  Agency,  co-operated  in  making 
a  complete  canvass  of  a  large  downtown  section  in 
that  great  city,  visiting  over  17,000  families,  of 
which  were  found  4,000  without  the  Scriptures,  and 
supplying  1,100  of  them.  This  same  Auxiliary  has 
completed  a  canvass  of  the  colored  population  of 
another  section  of  that  city  and  supplied  Bibleless 
homes.  A  canvass  of  the  Italian  population  is  con- 
templated. 

Kentucky 

"My  men  have  found  many  Bibleless  homes  and 
many  were  so  eager  to  buy.  One  of  our  colporteurs, 
a  Baptist  minister,  went  to  a  logging  camp  in  the  hills 
and  told  the  men  in  the  woods  that  he  had  come  with 
a  supply  of  Scriptures  and  would  be  at  a  certain  place 
in  the  camp  that  evening  with  his  supply.  Not 
reaching  there  at  the  appointed  time,  they  sent  for 
him  and  bought  out  his  entire  stock.  At  another 
time,  they  came  and  stood  in  line,  each  man  taking 
his  turn,  as  if  they  were  buying  stamps  at  a  post 
office."  In  this  state  also  a  house-to-house  can- 
vass of  Covington  was  made.  "A  great  many  Bibles 
were  sold  to  Catholics,  and  they  were  glad  to  get 
them." 


CENTRAL   AGENCY  93 

Tennessee 

Into  this  state  has  come  "a  large  influx  of  Mexicans 
— workers  in  the  aluminum  plants  and  lumber  mills." 
"  We  were  glad  to  make  a  donation  of  Testaments  for 
a  boys'  elubroom  in  a  mountain  mission  school,  the 
request  coming  from  a  young  man  who  is  not  himself 
a  Christian.  For  while  not  a  Christian,  he  felt  that 
the  best  book  to  put  within  the  reach  of  the  other 
boys  was  the  Word  of  God." 

Alabama 

"The  development  of  the  rich  mineral  deposits, 
and  the  large  manufacturing  interests  that  have 
seized  upon  the  vast  belts  of  pine  timber  have  brought 
into  Alabama  a  great  mixed  population  that  has  ma- 
terially changed  old  customs.  The  large  emigration 
of  the  colored  population  has  changed  conditions  on 
the  cotton  plantations.  The  South  feels  this  shift- 
ing of  the  population  very  materially." 

Reaction  on  Bible  Work 

"I  speak  of  these  things  because  these  conditions 
react  on  the  religious  and  church  life  of  the  people 
and  thereby  affect  the  work  of  the  Bible  Society 
seriously.  A  few  years  ago  a  colporteur  of  the  Bible 
Society  could  travel  through  the  country  and  be 
freely  entertained  in  the  homes  of  the  people.  He 
can  do  so  no  longer.  The  spirit  of  materialism  seizes 
some  classes ;  the  Bible  does  not  appeal  to  them.  With 
other  people  the  Bible  has  not  lost  its  hold  and  the 
demand  is  greater  than  ever  before.  An  old,  ex- 
perienced colporteur  says  that  the  only  hindrance 
is  a  lack  of  sufficient  Scriptures  to  supply  the  de- 
mand." 

The  Children  Look  Up  and  Are  Not  Fed 

Alabama  has  recently  passed  a  law  requiring  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  in   the   schools  supported  by 


94  ATLANTIC   AGENCY 

public  funds,  and  the  Agency  had  not  sufficient 
funds  to  respond  to  the  opportunity  offered  by  the 
superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  Mobile  County 
when  he  asked  for  400  Bibles  to  be  placed  in  the 
schools.  ''What  a  great  thing  it  would  be  if  we  could 
say  to  every  public  school  teacher  in  the  whole  state 
of  Alabama,  'The  American  Bible  Society  stands 
ready  to  supply  your  school  with  sufficient  Bibles  for 
your  needs.'  But  again  it  is  true,  that  'the  children 
look  up  and  are  not  fed.'" 

Mississippi 

"This  is  a  rural  state,  with  only  three  towns  having 
a  population  exceeding  20,000  people.  Great  desti- 
tution of  the  Scriptures  exists  among  the  poor.  The 
pastor  of  one  of  the  churches  told  me  that,  in  one  of 
the  counties,  he  did  not  think  there  could  be  more 
than  10  per  cent,  of  the  people  supplied  with  Bibles. 
I  think  he  said  1  per  cent.,  but  I  have  put  it  10  per 
cent,  so  as  not  to  be  guilty  of  an  over-statement." 
The  need  for  Bible  distribution  is  surely  apparent. 


Atlantic  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  Frank  P.  Parkin,  D.D. 

701  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Established  1910.  Field:  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware.  Cir- 
culation in  1919,  144,277  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since  1910, 
1,751,323  volumes. 

With  this  report  the  first  decade  of  the  Atlantic 
Agency  is  completed,  although  organized  work  of 
Bible  distribution  in  the  United  States  was  first 
begun  in  this  region,  and  the  Agency  contains  some 
of  the  oldest  local  Bible  Societies.  Its  fields  and 
problems  are  the  crowded  hives  of  industry  rather 
than  the  wide  stretches  of  farms^and  ranches.  In 
53  languages  and  5  systems  of  embossedtype  for  the 


ATLANTIC    AGENCY  95 

blind,  27,186  Bibles,  23,509  Testaments,  and  93,582 
portions,  or  a  total  of  144,277  volumes,  were  circu- 
lated. 

Dr.  Parkin  spent  a  portion  of  two  months  at  the 
Bible  House  in  New  York  during  the  fall,  in  special 
duties  in  connection  with  the  observation  of  Universal 
Bible  Sunday. 

Increased  Demand  For  Foreign  Bibles 

1 '  One  of  the  interesting  phases  of  the  '  af ter-the-war ' 
period  has  been  an  increased  demand  for  God's  Word 
by  many  of  the  foreigners.  This  has  been  especially 
true  of  the  Ruthenians,  Russians,  and  a  few  others. 
They  require  good  Bibles  and  demand  the  large-size 
print.  Unfortunately  many  of  these  foreign  editions 
desired  are  still  unavailable,  owing  to  the  delays  in 
securing  them  from  the  foreign  publishers.  Our  sales 
of  foreign  Bibles  and  portions  could  have  been  multi- 
plied many  times,  had  there  been  available  supplies  of 
these  much-coveted  versions. 

A  Spirit  of  Independence 

"While  priests  in  certain  sections  have  ordered 
many  who  purchased  Bibles  to  burn  them,  the 
people  are  beginning  to  show  a  spirit  of  independ- 
ence." 

Russian  Students 

1 '  In  Philadelphia  there  is  a  large  Bible  school  devoted 
entirely  to  the  training  of  nearly  one  hundred  young 
Russians,  who  are  being  prepared  to  return  to  their 
native  land  as  evangelistic  workers  as  soon  as  condi- 
tions will  permit.  I  had  two  of  these  students  during 
the  summer  vacation  traveling  among  their  country- 
men and  others,  and  acting  as  colporteurs.  Their 
zeal  and  enthusiasm  were  an  inspiration.  In  the 
providence  of  God,  these  devoted  young  Russians 
being  trained  here  in  America  may  prove  to  be  among 


96  ATLANTIC    AGENCY 

the  most  effectual  barriers  to  the  spread  of  radical 
doctrines,  so  subversive  of  real  liberty  in  Russia  or 
elsewhere." 

Colporteur  Gay 

Not  long  since,  the  pages  of  the  Bible  Society 
Record  had  a  brief  review  of  his  nineteen  years  of 
service  as  a  colporteur  from  Mr.  John  Gay,  who 
also  has  the  distinction  of  being  able  to  talk  in 
eight  languages  or  dialects  and  read  three  others. 
One  further  incident : 

44 By  Their  Fruit  Ye  Shall  Know" 

"A  Slovak  girl  in  Homestead,  Penn.,  when  some 
persons  were  speaking  disrespectfully  of  the  Bible, 
rebuked  them  and  openly  bought  a  New  Testament. 
She  said  that  she  worked  in  Protestant  homes  and  saw 
what  kind  of  people  the  Bible  makes.  She  also  said 
that  she  had  worked  in  other  homes,  where  the  Bible 
was  neither  read  nor  seen,  and  she  can  see  the  differ- 
ence between  the  people  that  read  and  know  the  Bible 
and  those  who  do  not.  The  difference  was  also  seen 
in  their  treatment  of  their  servants." 

Depositories 

Depositories  are  maintained  at  three  major  centers : 
At  Pittsburgh,  under  the  Rev.  J.  Walker  Miller,  "who 
has  been  in  charge  of  this  important  industrial  field 
for  many  years  and  has  shown  himself  to  be  an  up- 
right, conscientious  representative  of  our  work  in 
every  respect";  at  Scranton,  under  the  Rev.  H.  G. 
Harned,  our  veteran  superintendent,  gladly  aided  by 
his  devoted  wife;  and  at  Wilkes-Barre,  under  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  M.  E.  Stone,  faithful  colporteurs  in  con- 
nection with  the  Luzerne  County  Bible  Society,  which 
celebrated  its  centennial  on  Bible  Sundav,  Novem- 
ber 30,  1919. 


THE    FOREIGN    AGENCIES 
The  West  Indies  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Joss  Marcial-Dorado,  Ph.D. 
10  Allen  Street,  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico. 

Established  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  in  1898.  Field:  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
Haiti,  Dominican  Republic,  the  Islands  of  Martinique  and  Guade- 
loupe, the  Virgin  Islands,  and  Venezuela.  Circulation  in  1919,  44,789 
volumes.     Aggregate  circulation  since  1898,  791,127  volumes. 

This  is  one  of  the  two  island  Agencies  of  the  Society, 
and  probably  is  more  diverse  than  the  Philippines 
Agency.  Dr.  Marcial-Dorado  is  evidently  getting 
into  sympathetic  touch  both  with  his  work  and  with 
representatives  of  various  classes  and  occupations. 
He  reports  testimonies  on  the  importance  and  results 
of  the  work,  from  officials,  physicians,  merchants, 
ship  captains,  writers,  laborers,  and  sailors,  as  well  as 
colporteurs  and  denominational  bodies,  some  of  which 
follow,  and  all  of  which  are  in  the  full  Annual  Report. 
They  are  very  encouraging  and  leave  a  regret  that 
a  larger  work  has  not  been  possible.  Dr.  Marcial- 
Dorado  spent  the  earlier  part  of  the  year  in  visiting 
Venezuela  and  other  portions  of  his  wide-spread  terri- 
tory, and  in  the  autumn  went  to  Spain  to  bring  his 
family  to  their  new  home.  He  reports  that  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Agency  covers  an  area  of  472,006  square 
miles  and  comprises  a  population  of  10,5-49,700  in- 
habitants— of  whom  6,500,000  are  white,  and  4,049,- 
700  are  colored.  With  sub-Agents  in  the  various 
islands  and  16  colporteurs,  aided  by  32  correspondents 
and  2  volunteer  workers,  7,956  Bibles,  6,356  Testa- 
ments, and  30,477  portions,  or  a  total  of  44,789  vol- 
umes of  Scripture,  were  circulated.  He  adds  that 
could  the  workers  have  been  furnished  with  all  the 
Spanish  and  French  books  for  which  orders  had  been 
received,  the  distribution  would  have  been  four  times 
larger. 

7 


98  WEST    INDIES 

Professor  Bustamente's  Remark 

"The  demand  for  Bibles  has  been  so  great  this  year 
in  the  territories  that  form  a  part  of  our  Agency,  that 
we  can  truly  say  that  the  Holy  Book  is  the  Light- 
house of  America.  This  truth  was  expressed  and  con- 
firmed by  a  prominent  man  of  Cuba,  professor  of  the 
University  and  one  who  figured  in  former  years  in 
the  government  of  the  island — Mr.  Bustamente. 
He  said:  'The  citizens  of  the  United  States  should 
make  their  first  large  donations  to  the  Bible  Society. 
The  United  States  will  gain  more  with  the  Bible  than 
it  will  gain  with  its  commerce  and  its  politics.  Be- 
cause the  Bible  is  the  moral  code,  which  attracts  and 
impresses  souls. " 

Testaments  for  Soldiers 

The  American  Bible  Society  during  1919  supplied 
an  edition  of  khaki-bound  Spanish  Scriptures  for  dis- 
tribution among  the  soldiers  of  the  West  Indies. 
These  have  been  eagerly  taken .  Churches  have  sought 
them  for  distribution  among  the  soldiers  of  their  con- 
gregations and  have  made  contributions  for  the  ex- 
pense involved.  Some  of  the  soldiers  who  had  seen 
the  English  editions  elsewhere  were  especially  glad 
to  get  the  khaki  Testaments  in  the  Spanish  language. 
A  soldier,  who  had  been  in  the  garrison  in  the  Panama 
Canal  Zone,  said,  "I  cherish  very  highly  this  book, 
because  I  already  have  proved  its  healthy  influence 
over  many  of  my  comrades." 

PORTO   RICO 

The  circulation  in  this  island  has  been  double  that 
of  the  two  preceding  years,  although  it  was  impossible 
to  supply  enough  volumes  to  fill  in  any  way  the  de- 
mands. Church  bodies  and  various  denominations 
have  taken  action  showing  their  appreciation  of  the 
work  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  Presbyterian 


WEST   INDIES  99 

Church  temporarily  supplying  a  place  in  which  the 

offices  of  the  Agency  are  established. 

Why  She  Learned 

Dr.  Marcial-Dorado  writes:  "Some  very  interest- 
ing experiences  have  come  to  me  regarding  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Bible  upon  all  the  social  classes.  Dr. 
Francisco  del  Valle,  a  prominent  physician  and  san- 
itation officer  of  Porto  Rico,  said  to  me  not  long 
ago :  '  I  have  a  servant  who  learned  to  read  after 
she  was  59  years  old  because  of  her  strong  desire 
to  read  the  Bible.  One  day  after  dinner  she  asked 
me  for  some  money,  and  explained,  "I  am  going 
to  buy  a  Bible."  "What  for?"  I  asked;  "you  do 
not  know  how  to  read."  "But  I  am  going  to  learn 
right  away,"  she  replied.  And  sure  enough,  within 
seven  weeks,  the  woman  could  read  the  Bible.  A  col- 
porteur spoke  to  her  first  about  the  Bible.  Soon  after 
this  she  began  attending  a  church,  and  then  she  be- 
came desirous  of  having  a  Bible  and  learning  how  to 
read  it.'" 

•'Please  Pardon  the  Mistake" 

On  his  various  trips,  Dr.  Marcial-Dorado  has  met 
a  variety  of  people.  Some  of  them  have  spoken 
slightingly  of  the  Bible  in  conversation.  Months  after 
one  of  these  conversations  on  a  steamer,  a  rich  com- 
mercial man  of  Cuba  wrote :  "I  am  now  an  assiduous 
reader  of  the  Bible.  Please  pardon  the  mistaken 
statements  I  made  when  we  talked  together  about 
religion.  I  understand  now  why  such  a  sublime  book 
as  this  has  proved  to  be  should  be  spread  throughout 
the  whole  universe.  I  believe  that  the  work  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  is  the  best  work  done  by 
Americans."  A  few  days  later  a  donation  of  $26,  to 
help  pay  for  the  khaki  edition  of  the  Testament  in 
Spanish,  was  received  from  this  man. 


100  WEST    INDIES 

SANTO  DOMINGO 
"This  Is  the  Epoch" 

The  sub-Agent  in  the  south,  the  Rev.  Van  Vleck, 
and  the  Rev.  Leon  in  the  north,  both  have  accom- 
plished an  encouraging  distribution,  though  neither 
could  be  supplied  with  all  the  books  ordered.  The 
latter  wrote:  "This  is  the  epoch,  the  moment,  for  the 
Bible.  There  are  many  people  here  anxious  to  help 
in  distributing.  The  distribution  of  the  Bible  is  the 
basis  of  the  new  Christian  congregations  that  are  now- 
being  formed." 

Mr.  A.  Davila,  a  noted  writer,  said  to  Dr.  Marcial- 
Dorado  on  one  of  his  trips,  "I  have  never  seen  in 
Santo  Domingo  so  much  interest  shown  over  religious 
matters  as  now." 

CUBA 

The  Rev.  Sylvester  Jones,  of  the  Methodist  mission, 
was  in  charge  as  sub-Agent,  of  the  work  for  the  first 
part  of  the  year,  and  the  Rev.  Odell,  a  successful 
missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  took  up  the 
work  on  Mr.  Jones'  departure,  giving  a  good  deal  of 
time  and  interest  to  it. 

Volunteer  Helpers 

Mr.  Jones  writes:  "In  one  church,  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society  has  taken  the  responsibility  of  dis- 
tributing portions  in  the  country  districts,  and  the 
members  of  that  society  are  doing  a  good  work.  In 
one  town  a  poor,  decrepit  man,  who  had  been  selling 
different  notions,  is  giving  his  entire  time  to  selling 
the  Bible  and  is  meeting  with  great  success.  Several 
young  men  who  attended  a  Sunday-school  Convention 
took  Scriptures  with  them  to  distribute  and  sell  in 
their  native  towns." 

Gratitude  to  America 
Dr.   Marcial-Dorado,  by  request,  held  conferences 
about   the_Bible  in  the  larger  towns  and  churches. 


WEST    INDIES  101 

Several  prominent  persons  in  the  government  uni- 
versity and  commercial  world  expressed  themselves 
in  favor  of  a  crusade  which  should  fill  Cuba  with 
Bibles.  "Without  doubt,"  said  a  professor,  "one 
of  the  greatest  things  tor  which  we  should  be  thank- 
ful, is  the  fact  that  the  American  people  have  brought 
US  the  Bible." 

"  It  Is  a  Treasure" 

Colporteur  Barros  spent  a  couple  of  hours  each 
day,  during  the  noon  siesta,  in  reading  the  Bible  to 
the  workers  in  a  sugar  factory.  A  few  months  later 
he  found  the  employees  still  gathering  to  read  the 
Bible  together  in  the  time  they  had  to  rest,  all  had 
the  open  Bible  and  followed  in  the  reading.  When 
the  colporteur  questioned  one  of  the  workmen  about 
purchasing  the  expensive  Bible  he  desired,  the  reply 
came,  "I  have  spent  money  on  useless  things  many 
times.  It  does  not  matter  how  much  this  costs,  for 
it  is  a  book  which  is  profitable  to  all.     It  is  a  treasure." 

When  a  would-be  purchaser  of  a  Bible  at  the  de- 
pository was  asked  if  he  were  a  Christian,  he  answered, 
"No,  sir,  I  am  nothing.  I  do  not  know  the  Book, 
but  I  have  heard  it  spoken  of  a  great  deal  and  I  wish 
to  read  it  and  convince  myself  of  the  truth." 

HAITI 
Opening  Up  a  New  Road 

The  sub-Agent  at  Port-au-Prince,  Mr.  Baron, 
writes:  "Send  us  all  the  books  you  possibly  can. 
The  Bible  is  opening  up  a  new  road  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  Our  distributers  and  colporteurs  are 
without  books.  They  cannot  do  efficient  work  unless 
they  have  a  good  supply.  The  persons  who  know  how 
to  read  ask  with  eagerness  for  the  Bible.  The  Bible 
is  sold  much  by  colporteurs  in  the  mountain  homes.,: 

GUADELOUPE  AND  MARTINIQUE 

The  sub-Agents,  Mr.  Phipps  and  Air.  Fatacey,  have 
found  prompt  use  for  all  the  books  sent.     There  is 


102  WEST    INDIES 

great  ignorance  yet  as  to  spiritual  matters  and,  there- 
fore, great  opportunity  to  bring  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  to  bear  upon   the  people. 


French  Patriots  Are  Grateful 

A  Christian  man  who  represents  a  French  firm, 
writes:  "I  have  seen  with  great  joy  that  the  Bible 
is  becoming  known  in  the  French  Islands.  I  thank 
God.  It  is  the  best  work  that  the  Americans  do  in 
these  countries.  I  am  sure  that  all  good  French 
patriots  are  grateful  for  the  disinterested  labor  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  in  their  midst  and  for 
these  countries." 

The  captain  of  a  French  ship  said,  while  praising 
the  work  of  Bible  distribution:  "Three  of  my  crew 
secured  Testaments  in  the  French  islands.  The  read- 
ing of  them  seems  to  have  interested  them  intensely, 
because  in  their  leisure  moments  they  do  not  join 
with  the  rest  of  the  sailors  in  gambling  and  drinking. 
Off  to  one  side  of  the  ship  they  may  be  seen  reading 
and  reading  constantly." 

VENEZUELA 

Here,  one  long  associated  with  the  work  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  at  one  time  its  Agent,  is 
now  sub-Agent — the  Rev.  G.  Bailly,  a  zealous  friend 
of  the  Bible  cause. 

Colporteurs  Hit  and  Helped 

The  high  cost  of  living  (illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
a  colporteur  had  to  pay  30  cents  to  get  a  couple  of 
eggs  fried,  he  supplying  the  eggs  himself)  makes  it 
hard  for  colporteurs.  But  there  is  a  silver  lining,  for 
they  are  often  shown  hospitality  in  appreciation  of 
the  good  purpose  to  which  they  have  devoted  their 
lives. 


WEST    INDIES  103 

Sowing]  Gospels  Produces  Call  for  Bibles 

\.  In  Venezuela  i here  is  now  quite  a  demand  for  Bibles 
and  Testaments,  consequent  upon  the  large  number 
of  Gospels  already  distributed,  which  have  proved 
to  be  the  seed  of  this  demand.  When  the  Agency 
Secretary  visited  Venezuela,  the  missionaries  and 
Christian  workers  impressed  upon  him  the  importance 
of  the  present  opportunity  for  the  circulation  of  the 
Word. 

A  Notable  Writer 
On  visiting  the  Bolivar  Museum,  a  notable  writer 
of  Venezuela  said  to  him :  "  It  is  wonderful  to  observe 
what  occurs  with  regard  to  this  great  book.  Until 
now  the  Bible  only  had  a  historic  significance  for 
many  people,  like  a  great  many  curious  and  rare  books. 
But  the  work  of  the  Bible  Societies  is  revealing  to 
the  world  what  the  Bible  is  worth  and  what  truth  it 
contains — 'the  salvation  of  the  people.'" 

Two  Merchants  Buy  Two  Hundred  Gospels 

Two  merchants  from  a  town  near  Maracaibo  were 
traveling  with  the  Agency  Secretary,  and  showed  great 
interest  in  the  reading  of  a  Testament  which  he  placed 
in  their  hands.  They  bought  two  hundred  portions. 
"We  wish,"  they  said,  "to  present  a  Gospel  to  each 
one  of  our  best  friends  in  the  city." 

Conclusion 

The  report  closes  with  the  three-fold  statement 
that  the  conscience  of  the  Latin-American  people  is 
awakening,  that  this  constitutes  a  hope  for  great 
harvests  in  the  future,  and  that  it  demonstrates  the 
great  desire  that  the  people  have  to  be  helped  to  a 
higher  and  better  level. 


Mexico 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  A.  H.  Mellen 
Apartado  1373,  Mexico  City,  Mexico. 

Established  1878.     Field:  Republic  of  Mexico.     Circulation  in  1919,  100,715 

volumes.     Aggregate  circulation  since  1878,  1,311,712. 

The  first  full  year  of  supervision  by  Mr.  Mellen  is 
covered  in  this  report.  Interesting  departures  and  de- 
velopments in  methods  have  characterized  the  year. 

An  almost  50  per  cent,  increase  in  the  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures  during  the  year  was  attained,  and  it 
would  have  been  larger  had  books  beqn  available. 

There  were  5,852  Bibles,  6,093  Testaments,  and 
88,770  portions,  making  a  total  of  100,715  volumes  of 
Scriptures,  circulated  in  1919,  as  contrasted  with 
70,940  the  year  before.  More  than  twice  as  many 
Bibles  and  Testaments  were  circulated  than  the  year 
before,  and  Bibles  in  finer  binding  have  been  called  for. 
This  increase  in  circulation  is  laid  to  the  credit  not  of 
the  Secretary  nor  the  workers,  but  to  the  simple  fact 
that  "the  call  for  the  Bible  is  increasing.  For  this 
there  are  two  causes:  One  is  the  steady  growth  of 
missionary  work;  and  the  other,  a  great  hunger  for 
something  to  sustain  the  inner  life  of  the  soul  in  the 
trials  and  hardships  of  life."  The  oldest  colporteur, 
who  has  tramped  the  roads  and  canvassed  the  villages 
around  Mexico  City  for  about  twenty  years,  is  now 
selling  more  books  than  ever  before. 

A  fact  perhaps  not  often  realized  is  stated  in  these 
words:  "In  Spanish-speaking  countries,  as  well  as  in 
all  missionary  lands,  the  only  Bibles  available  are 
those  put  out  by  the  great  national  Bible  Societies." 

A  National  Trait  Used 

The  national  trait  of  a  love  for  the  artistic  and  the 
beautiful  was  called  into  action  by  placing  pictures 
in  a  new  catalogue.  Two  pages  of  Bible  story  titles 
were  als<  i  insert  ed.    The  pictures  caught  the  attention, 


MEXICO  105 

and  the  Bible  story  titles  led  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible.  "If  there  has  been  any  perverted  use  of  the 
pictures  it  has  not  come  to  my  notice.  One  of  the 
young  student  colporteurs  told  me  that  he  entered  a 
"pulque  shop" — which  is  the  Mexican  equivalent  of 
a  beer  saloon.  He  first  offered  his  books  with  no 
response,  and  on  showing  a  catalogue  one  of  the  men 
asked  another  to  lend  him  money  to  buy  one  of  the 
books." 

Enthusiastic  Young  Colporteurs 

Decidedly  interesting  accounts  of  the  training  of 
embryo  pastors  in  this  field,  while  they  are  still  stu- 
dents in  the  seminary,  have  appeared  in  the  Bible 
Society  Record.  The  enthusiastic  young  men  have 
worked  steadily  while  they  were  out,  and  often  under 
adverse  circumstances  that  have  shown  courage  and 
devotion.  It  augurs  well  for  their  interest  in  Bible 
distribution  when  they  become  ministers.  But  not  all 
of  the  colporteurs  are  these  young,  educated  men. 

Victor  Cervantes 

A  story  is  told  of  Victor  Cervantes,  a  man  of  pure 
Indian  descent,  very  dark,  with  large,  prominent  fea- 
tures, and  modest,  retiring  manner,  who  wanted  to 
sell  Bibles.  He  had  practically  taught  himself  how 
to  read,  having  worked  in  mines  nearly  all  his  life. 
Born  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  he  had  thought  his  way 
out  by  Bible  reading.  On  being  questioned,  he  showed 
a  fine  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  Having  been  intro- 
duced by  a  missionary  as  an  active  member  of  an 
evangelical  church,  he  was  soon  set  to  work  as  a 
colporteur.  One  cannot  but  think  of  a  scene  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  he  reads  the  following: 

"Unlearned  and  Ignorant" 

"Yes;  but  what  a  strange  difference  when  it  is 
observed    that  they  have  been  with  Jesus.     Victor 


MEXICO  107 

Cervantes  wrote  me  a  letter  in  December  of  which 

the  following  is  a  translation : 

"'My  cherished  Brother  in  the  Faith:  Allow  me 
to  inform  yon  that  on  the  13th  1  went  with  Bibles  in 
the  direction  of  San  Miguel  Peras,  in  which  village  I 
was  arrested  and  brought  before  the  military  judge 
of  the  district,  who  ordered  me  to  state  by  what 
authority  I  was  selling  those  books. 

"'I  replied  that  no  special  authority  was  necessary 
in  order  to  understand  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ :  for  it  is  the  purest  teaching  in  all  the  world; 
that  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  and  teaches 
respect  for  all  properly  constituted  authority.  And 
in  order  to  prove  this,  I  opened  a  Bible  and  read  from 
the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Romans.  "There  is  no 
power  but  of  God:  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained 
of  God  .  .  .  for  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works, 
but  to  the  evil.  .  .  .  They  are  God's  ministers,  attend- 
ing continually  upon  this  very  thing,  render  therefore, 
to  all  their  dues." 

'"I  then  told  the  judge  that  this  was  my  authority 
for  selling  the  books ;  to  which  he  replied  that  I  wras 
doing  well,  and  to  go  on  selling  the  books.  No  more 
for  the  present.     Thy  brother  and  servant. — V.  C" 

Encouragement 

The  adoption,  by  practically  all  the  different 
churches,  of  Bible  Sunday,  and  the  active  support  of 
the  Bible  Society's  work  and  of  Bible  Sunday  by  the 
evangelical  press,  is  an  encouraging  feature,  as  is 
the  fact  that  69  congregations  made  contributions  of 
$272.48,  which,  coming  from  the  poor  people  of 
Mexico,  proves  their  desire  for  Bible  circulation. 
English  and  American  residents  in  the  country  have 
also  made  contributions,  while  gifts  from  Australia 
of  money,  and  from  the  Bible  House  of  Los  Angeles 
of  selected  portions  of  Scripture,  have  been  of  ma- 
terial assistance. 


Panama  Canal  and  Central  America 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan 
Bible  House,  Cristobal,  Canal  Zone. 

Established  1892.  Field:  The  Republics  of  Central  America,  Panama,  the 
Canal  Zone,  and  Colombia.  Circulation  in  1919,  .'36,906  volumes. 
Aggregate  circulation  since  1892,  621,698  volumes. 

As  Mr.  Jordan,  the  Agency  Secretary,  widens  and 
deepens  his  acquaintance  with  his  field,  he  is  impressed 
with  the  backward  state  of  civilization  in  some  por- 
tions, and  especially  with  the  downtrodden  condition 
of  the  Indians.  He  rejoices  in  the  fact,  generally 
conceded,  that  colporteurs  have  been  the  pioneers  of 
missionary  work  in  most  of  the  republics  in  this 
Agency.  "  This  exceedingly  interesting  field  is  a  more 
than  usually  difficult  and  expensive  one  to  work. 
Traveling  is  costly  and  slow.  There  are  few  railroads 
and  still  fewer  highways.  Most  of  the  travel  is  by 
boat  and  along  narrow  mountain  trails.  Our  books 
have  frequently  to  be  transported  long  distances  on 
mule  back.  In  all  these  countries  the  people  are 
kindly  disposed  towards  our  workers,  and  our  duty 
is  in  no  wise  diminished  by  the  difficulties  connected 
with  reaching  them." 

The  Cristobal  Bible  House  in  Service 

The  Bible  House  at  Cristobal  is  now  rendering  a 
striking  service  to  the  increasing  number  of  mission- 
aries passing  through  that  point  on  their  way  to 
various  parts  of  Latin  America.  Among  the  boards 
represented  by  these  missionary  guests  were  the 
Methodist,  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Pentecostal,  Gos- 
pel Union,  Central  America  Mission,  Evangelical 
Union,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.;  mission- 
aries to  all  the  South  American  countries  except 
Brazil,  Paraguay,  and  the  Guianas  being  included. 
At  one  time  there  were  sixteen  guests  in  the  Bible 
House. 


PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL   AMERICA  109 

The  Year's  Tale 

The  prevalence  of  yellow  fever  has  frequently  pre- 
vented communication  with  parts  of  the  field  for  long 
periods.  Mr.  Jordan  visited  New  York,  for  con- 
ference, during  the  year.  The  circulation  of  the  year 
included  4,968  Bibles,  3,907  Testaments,  and  28,031 
portions,  in  13  languages — a  total  of  36,906  volumes. 

CANAL  ZONE 

The  circulation  in  the  Canal  Zone  has  been  chiefly 
through  those  connected  with  church  organizations. 
The  number  of  whole  Bibles  sold  exceeded  that  of 
either  Testaments  or  portions.  The  accession  of  Mr. 
Dufey  to  the  local  force,  with  his  knowledge  of  French, 
Spanish,  and  English,  gives  promise  of  valuable  work. 

COSTA  RICA 
Scriptures  to  Soldiers 

Here  also  the  work  has  been  largely  through  cor- 
respondents, one  of  whom  reports:  "During  the 
revolution  several  hundred  soldiers  were  stationed  in 
San  Jose,  and  the  members  of  the  church  distributed 
portions  of  the  gospel  to  each  soldier  going  to  the 
front.  Many  times  the  regiments  were  formed  in 
line  when  the  worker  came  with  the  Gospels  for  dis- 
tribution. Not  one  refused  to  receive  a  Gospel,  and 
many  expressed  gratitude  and  interest  in  the  Book 
and  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  The  Central  America 
missionaries,  the  Seventh-Day  Adventists,  and  all 
other  Christian  workers  in  the  Republic,  have  helped 
circulate  the  Bible  during  the  past  year.  Very  few 
Scriptures  have  been  given  away,  except  the  portions 
distributed  among  the  soldiers." 

NICARAGUA 

The  largest  circulation  in  any  of  the  republics  is 
reported  from  this  one :   13,252  volumes.     It  has  been 


110  PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL    AMERICA 

accomplished  chiefly  through  the  mission  workers, 
the  Rev.  W.  Hooper  continuing  his  active  interest 
and  leadership. 

HONDURAS 
Direct  Results 

Colporteur  Hockings  had  an  active  and  successful 
time  in  this  republic,  giving  a  series  of  Bible  talks,  as 
well  as  stirring  up  the  activity  of  others  in,  and  him- 
self, circulating  the  Scriptures.  Mr.  Jordan  writes: 
"In  no  other  country  that  I  know  of  are  such  a  large 
proportion  of  the  evangelical  groups  the  direct  results 
of  the  work  of  the  colporteurs  as  in  Honduras. 
Brother  Hockings's  work  has  been  especially  fruitful 
in  this  regard.  He  took  me  to  see  the  old  lady,  the 
first  convert — a  result  of  Bible  circulation — in  whose 
house  the  believers  used  to  gather  to  meet  for  worship, 
before  ever  any  missionary  had  located  in  that  city, 
the  capital,  Tegucigalpa." 

The  experiences,  dangers,  and  inconveniences  of 
work  for  the  Agent  as  well  as  for  the  colporteurs  are 
depicted  in  the  following  paragraphs: 

'♦Thrills" 

"  The  trip  between  San  Lorenzo  and  the  capital  is 
the  wildest  automobile  ride  the  writer  ever  undertook. 
Most  of  the  way  the  road  is  simply  cut  and  graded 
along  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  with  no  parapet  or 
protecting  wall  whatever  to  prevent  the  auto  and  its 
occupants  from  crashing  down  the  steep  declivities  in 
case  of  any  miscalculation  on  the  part  of  the  driver, 
or  mishap  to  the  steering  gear.  Our  driver  was  a 
little  late  in  starting  and,  therefore,  in  somewhat  of 
a  hurry  on  the  return  trip.  Frequently  in  approach- 
ing a  curve  around  a  salient  where  nothing  could  be 
seen  ahead  but  a  yawning  chasm  full  of  the  pro- 
jecting peaks  and  summits  of  the  range  below, 
one  would  wish  that    the   clutch   might   be  thrown 


PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL   AMERICA  111 

out  and  the  brake  applied — seconds  that  seemed 
minutes,  before  trie  chauffeur  began  to  take  the 
precautions  necessary  to  the  safe  rounding  of  the 
turn.  For  thrills  I  recommend  an  auto  ride  down 
the  mountain  sides  from  Tegucigalpa  to  the  Pacific 
Coast,  with  the  car  crowded  to  the  limit  and  the 
chauffeur  in  a  hurry. 

A  Memorable  Launch  Ride 

"After  this  journey  came  the  launch  ride  from  San 
Lorenzo  to  Amapala — another  never-to-be-forgotten 
experience.  Sixteen  people  with  their  baggage  were 
crowded  into  a  launch  that  would  comfortably  seat 
ten.  The  engineer  stood  astride  of  the  engine  with 
the  baggage  piled  around  him.  The  launch  was  to 
have  started  at  3  p.m.,  and  our  haste  down  the  moun- 
tain side  had  been  in  order  to  catch  it.  It  did  not 
leave,  however,  until  11  p.m. 

"When,  finally,  at  1  a.m.  we  reached  the  steps  of 
the  wharf  at  Amapala,  rejoicing  that  our  long  day 
had  reached  its  close  and  that  in  a  few  minutes  we 
would  be  stretching  our  weary  bodies  on  the  canvas 
of  the  cots  in  the  one  inn  which  the  place  affords,  it 
was  only  to  be  met  by  a  barefooted  soldier  with  a 
gun  and  the  statement  that  no  one  would  be  allowed 
to  land  till  the  military  chief  came  down  at  six-thirty 
in  the  morning.  Imagine  the  situation.  Sixteen 
passengers  in  an  open  launch,  crowded  to  the  limit, 
must  remain  at  sea  until  his  military  highness  should 
begin  work  in  the  morning.  No  reason  was  assigned ; 
though  we  learned  later  that  one  of  the  passengers 
was  suspected  of  being  connected  with  a  conspiracy 
against  the  government.  I  was  the  only  American 
in  the  party.  '  The  other  fifteen  were  Central  Ameri- 
cans, and  among  them  were  doctors,  lawyers,  and 
merchants.  This  outrage  was  accepted  as  a  matter 
of  course  by  all  of  my  fellow-passengers.  llEl  que 
manda,   manda"    (He   who   commands,    commands), 


112  PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL    AMERICA 

remarked  the  doctor  sitting  at  my  right,  as  he  twisted 
himself  in  his  seat  and  elbowed  room  enough  to  light 
a  cigarette.  Through  the  long  hours  I  heard  no  com- 
plaining. I  suppose  no  one  on  board  knew  who  might 
be  a  government  spy,  and  there  was  no  desire  to  be 
heard  criticising  the  powers  that  be;  or,  rather  that 
were,  in  Honduras  at  that  time.  Some  time  after 
daylight  we  were  allowed  to  land,  and  the  sus- 
pected passenger  was  searched  and  allowed  to  go 
on  his  way." 

A   Gospel  Hall  From  a  Roman  Catholic  Bible 

At  the  end  of  a  jungle  journey  picturesquely  de- 
scribed, Mr.  Hockings  participated  in  the  opening  of 
a  new  gospel  hall  in  Colinas,  built  almost  entirely  by 
native  Christians  themselves,  and  adds:  "It  was 
Easter  Week  and  Colinas  was  preparing  to  celebrate. 
How  refreshing  it  was  to  see  more  than  two  hundred 
believers  gathered  here!  We  remembered  the  time 
when  our  colporteur,  a  native  of  this  town,  had  taken 
his  father's  Roman  Catholic  Bible  to  explain  the  way 
of  salvation  to  all  his  relatives  here.  Afterwards  we 
were  able  to  sell  them  some  of  our  Bibles,  and  soon 
there  were  about  one  hundred  people  who  were  in- 
terested in  the  Bible.  Now  and  then  a  missionary 
passed  through  and  preached.  When  we  passed  we 
found  them  meeting  every  Lord's  Day.  Once  a  week 
they  would  read  a  chapter  of  Ryle's  'Gospels  Ex- 
plained,' sing  a  few  hymns,  have  a  prayer,  and  then 
go  home  to  pray  that  God  might  send  them  a  mis- 
sionary. God  answered  their  prayer,  and  for  some 
years  now  they  have  had  a  lady  missionary  whose 
work  has  been  greatly  blessed  of  the  Lord.  The  re- 
sults of  her  work  were  seen  when  each  night  the 
new  chapel  was  filled  to  overflowing;  and  while 
we  preached  the  new  chapel  received  its  baptism 
from  God  and  many  souls  accepted  Christ  as  their 
Saviour." 


PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL   AMERICA  113 

EL  SALVADOR 

"As  in  most  of  the  fields  of  Central  America,  the 
pioneer  work  here  was  done  by  the  Bible  Societies," 
is  again  the  record. 

Like  Any  Live  Stock 

Mr.  Jordan  on  his  visit  experienced  delightful  hos- 
pitality from  the  people,  and  also  novel  treatment 
when  he  took  the  steamer  on  leaving.  "The  boat 
does  not  dock  at  Acajutla.  Passengers  step  into  a 
crate  and  are  lowered  into  a  lighter  which  is  towed 
out  to  the  vessel,  where  they  are  taken  on  board  in 
the  same  manner.  This  was  the  first  time  we  had 
been  loaded  on  board  a  vessel  like  live  stock." 

GUATEMALA 

The  number  of  whole  Bibles  sold  was  50  per  cent, 
more  than  the  year  before,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
Guatemala  had  been  passing  through  exceedingly 
trying  times. 

Epidemic 

A  terrible  epidemic  of  influenza  was  said  to  have 
decimated  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  the  Indian 
population.  The  helplessness  of  the  Indians,  who 
were  without  any  medical  advice  or  assistance  what- 
ever, was  pathetic. 

Earthquake 

Guatemala  City  itself  was  recovering  from  the 
effects  of  the  earthquake,  when  visited  by  the  Agent. 
"I  could  well  believe  the  statement  of  one  of  my  in- 
formants, that  not  twenty  houses  in  the  whole  place 
had  escaped  serious  damage.  Seldom  has  a  city  been 
so  absolutely  shaken  to  pieces  by  the  heavings  of 
Mother  Earth  as  was  this  formerly  beautiful  city. 
Although  a  year  had  passed,  the  streets  away  from 

3 


114         PANAMA    CANAL   AND    CENTRAL   AMERICA 

the  center  of  the  town  were  found  so  rilled  with  the 
debris  as  to  be  impassable,  except  on  foot." 

Slavery- 
Even  more  sad  is  the  account — which  is  too  long 
for  repetition  here,  but  which  will  be  found  in  the 
Annual  Report — of  the  condition,  and  the  practical 
slavery,  of  the  Indians.  Treated  as  the  property  of 
the  government,  under  a  skillful  system  of  handling 
debts,  they  are  in  a  deplorable  condition,  indeed. 
They  have  been  kept  systematically  debauched  by 
cheap  rum,  from  which  the  government  reaps  a  further 
revenue.  Turned  into  pack  animals,  they  are  used 
rather  than  mules  or  oxen,  for  they  cost  less  to 
maintain.  "May  God  open  our  eyes,  that  we  may 
see  our  opportunity  to  help  the  docile,  industrious, 
enslaved,  debauched,  intellectually  capable,  artistic, 
faithful,  and  lovable  Indian  of  Guatemala  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  his  inheritance  in  Jesus  Christ  I" 

COLOMBIA 

On  his  visit  to  this  republic,  Mr.  Jordan  found  that 
the  only  satisfactory  way  to  work  the  valley  of  the 
Magdalena  and  its  tributaries  would  be  by  launch, 
a  method  proposed  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society's  agent,  but  not  as  yet  sanctioned  by  that 
Society.  There  are  1,500  to  2,000  miles  of  navigable 
waters  in  this  valley  and  the  delta  islands. 

Bibles,  "Immonl  Books" 
It  was  in  this  republic  that  Mr.  Dufey,  at  the 
port  of  Tumaco,  through  the  instigation  of  a  priest, 
was  arrested  and  had  his  Bibles  taken  from  him  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  immoral  books.  A  tele- 
gram sent  to  the  governor  at  Pasto  soon  brought 
about  his  release,  however,  and  the  local  press  spoke 
up  bravely  in  condemnation  of  such  treatment. 


La  Plata  Agency 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  F.  G.  Penzotti 

Casilla  de  Correo,  304,   Calle  Parana,   481,   Buenos  Ay  res, 

Argentina. 

Established  1864.  Field:  Argentina,  Bolivia,  Chile,  Ecuador,  Paraguay, 
Peru,  and  Uruguay.  Circulation  in  1919,  36,543  volumes.  Aggre- 
gate circulation  since  1864,  1,703,883  volumes. 

The  report  of  this  Agency  is  peculiarly  replete  with 
individual  instances  of  the  influence  of  the  Bible. 
It  also  completes  one  definite  period  of  the  Agency. 
With  the  end  of  the  year,  Mr.  Penzotti  has  passed 
over  the  care  of  the  work  in  Ecuador,  Bolivia,  and 
Peru,  to  the  newly  formed  West  Coast  Agency,  and 
will,  in  future,  be  freer  to  press  forward  the  work  in 
Uruguay,  Paraguay,  Chile,  and  Argentina.  The  cir- 
culation of  the  Scriptures  is  recorded  as  10,493  Bibles, 
9,656  Testaments,  and  16,394  portions. 

44 The  Great  Shortness" 

Here  again  many  more  could  have  been  circulated, 
but  "it  was  not  possible  to  get  the  necessary  books. 
We  only  received  a  third  part  of  the  books  we  would 
have  circulated  during  this  year  had  we  had  them. 
The  great  shortness  of  Scriptures  many  a  time  brought 
to  my  mind  the  words  of  the  prophet  saying,  "They 
shall  seek  my  word,  but  shall  not  find  it.'  Sometimes 
it  is  good  for  us  to  be  deprived  of  a  thing  we  need,  for 
it  makes  us  appreciate  it  the  more." 

Individual  Instances 

Some  of  the  individual  instances  of  Scripture  in- 
fluence related  in  this  report  have  been  already  men- 
tioned.    Space  allows  only  a  few  more  here : 

"A  woman  said  that  the  priest  of  the  village  she 
lives  in,  said  to  her  that  if  she  would  not  burn  her 
Bible  it  would  bring  misfortune  and  sickness  on  her 
house.  'That  I  dared  not  to  do,'  she  said;  'and  so 
I  threw  it  into  the  canal;   the  water  carried  it  away 


116 


LA    PLATA 


COLPORTEUR  PASTORE    READING     THE  BIBLE    TO   COUNTRY   PEOPLE    IN  SOUTH    AMERICA 


into  the  interior  of  a  vineyard  and  left  it  sticking 
in  the  mud ;  it  was  found  so  by  the  contractor  of  the 
vineyard,  who  took  it,  and,  after  having  cleaned  it, 
he  began  to  read  therein.  He  said  to  me,  "Since  I 
am  in  possession  of  this  book  things  have  changed, 
and  I  am  a  very  happy  man  now.  While  the  hail  and 
frost  continually  cause  great  harm  to  my  neighbors, 
I  am  not  at  least  harmed  by  them,  it  seems  as  if  I 
were  a  child  of  God.'" 

"  I  reached  one  of  the  most  remote  places,  and  came 
to  a  farm,  in  the  court  of  which  I  saw  an  Italian 
(member  of  a  Protestant  church  in  Italy)  reading  and 
explaining,  as  well  as  he  could,  the  gospel  to  the 
laborers  of  that  out-of-the-way  place.  Truly  we 
sometimes  meet  unknown  prophets  and  evangelists 


LA   PLATA  117 

even  in  places  where  we  would  least  expect  to  find 
them." 

The  writer  of  the  following  is  one  of  those 
led  to  Christ  through  a  simple  perusal  of  the 
Scriptures : 

Robbed  But  Happy 

1 '  In  Huince  Renanco  I  stayed  four  days.  The  room 
I  occupied  in  a  small  hotel,  I  had  to  share  with  two 
other  persons,  and  I  made  it  at  once  my  privilege  to 
speak  to  them  about  the  gospel.  And  the  Lord  blessed 
my  efforts,  for  both  accepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 
Nevertheless,  the  enemy  seemed  not  pleased  with 
this  my  work,  and  the  same  day  I  was  robbed  of  all 
my  money.  I  had  $11.  I  moved  to  another  small 
hotel  the  owner  of  which  had  previously  granted  his 
hall  to  the  brethren  of  the  Bible  coach,  to  hold  some 
gospel  meetings  in  it.  He  bade  me  enter  a  small 
room,  and  after  having  locked  the  door,  we  both 
prayed  to  our  God.  When  I  left  the  hotel,  we  were 
both  weeping  for  joy,  because  the  Lord  had  greatly 
blessed  our  efforts  in  him. 

"Beintf  Myself  One  of  Them" 

"I  have  the  full  conviction  that  the  mission  of 
a  colporteur  is  not  only  to  put  in  circulation  the 
Bible,  but  his  personal  contact  with  the  people 
and  clear  explaining  will  prove  to  be  of  double 
effect.  It  is  not  seldom  that  we  meet  genuinely 
converted  persons  who  have  been  led  to  Christ  by 
the  simple  perusal  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and, 
being  myself  one  of  those,  I  feel  it  my  privilege  to 
consecrate  my  whole  life  and  time  to  the  work  of 
the  Lord,  so  that  others,  too,  may  find  the  way  to 
Christ. — Vallejo." 

Another  letter  presents  another  phase  of  experience 
not  infrequent  in  this  Agency: 


118  LA    PLATA 

Invited  in  to  Insult9 

"They  have  here  the  spiritual  father,  by  whom  they 
pretend  to  be  guided,  and  in  consequence  of  this  are 
a  rather  hostile  and  inhospitable  element.  I  came  to 
a  house,  whose  inhabitants  bade  me  enter.  I  followed 
their  invitation,  but  as  soon  as  I  was  in  they  began 
to  insult  me,  and  finally  drove  me  out  of  the  house 
like  a  dog.  I  called  at  some  other  houses,  but  only 
to  arouse  the  fury  of  their  inhabitants.  They  would 
not  listen  to  my  words.  Fanaticism  is  reigning  power- 
fully among  them,  hardening  their  hearts  and  making 
them  blind.     May  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  them." 

"There  are  still  humble  and  sincere  souls  in  this 
world,  who  are  seeking  God.  A  proof  of  that  is  that 
I  rarely  visit  a  town,  or  village,  without  meeting  some 
one  of  God's  family,  or,  at  least,  some  who  are  showing 
great  interest  in  God's  Word.  In  some  places  I 
notice  that  the  gospel  is  gaining  ground  fast.  That 
was  not  so  years  ago.  I  often  could  go  from  town  to 
town  and  from  village  to  village  without  finding  even 
a  trace  of  gospel  work.  Let  us  take  courage  then, 
and  fight  to  win  souls  for  Christ ;  and  let  us  hoist  the 
flag  of  the  Cross." 

"What  a  Difference!" 

The  contrasts  in  a  colporteur's  experiences  are  illus- 
trated by  two  incidents  within  an  hour  of  each  other. 
The  reciter  was  cordially  greeted  by  a  woman  who 
eagerly  desired  a  Bible,  stating  that  she  had,  as  a 
girl,  grown  up  in  a  Protestant  colony  in  Switzerland, 
and  adding,  "What  a  difference  there  is  between  a 
country  where  they  keep  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
and  a  country  where  they  do  not  kee] )  t  hem !  There  I 
felt  as  though  I  were  living  in  a  paradise,  but  here  I 
feel  as  though  I  were  living  among  savages."  The 
record  continues:  "An  hour  later  on  I  passed  by  a 
tailor's  shop,  and,  entering,  I  offered  the  Bible  to  the 


LA    PLATA  119 

men  in  it.  As  soon  as  they  understood  that  it  was 
the  Bible  I  was  offering  to  them,  they  became  furious, 
and  I  thought  the  very  demon  himself  could  be  no 
worse  in  his  rage." 

"Nevertheless  " 

At  another  place  a  worker  reports :  "In  Sampacho 
we  held  several  open-air  meetings ;  the  priests  of  that 
place  did  their  best  to  oppose  us  and  put  a  stop  to 
our  working  there.  A  society  of  about  two  hundred 
persons  was  founded  by  them  and  a  special  orator 
employed  by  them  in  the  defense  of  the  'rights'  of 
their  church;  they  even  published  a  large  handbill, 
which,  as  always,  was  full  of  calumnies  against  our 
work,  and  distributed  about  two  thousand  among  the 
people  of  the  village.  Nevertheless,  over  two  hundred 
persons  attended  our  open-air  meetings  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  we  sold  Scriptures  worth  about  $40.  The 
people  were  generally  very  kind  toward  us." 

URUGUAY 
Not  in  Vain 

A  colporteur  reports:  "One  day  I  made  a  visit  to 
a  Christian  man.  There  was  also  a  caller  who,  after 
looking  at  me  a  while,  said  to  me,  '  I  presume  you  do 
not  know  me,  do  you?'  I  replied  that  I  had  the  im- 
pression as  if  I  had  already  seen  him  somewhere,  but 
could  not  remember  where  it  was.  Then  he  related 
to  me  how  he  became  a  Christian.  He  said,  '  One  day 
I  happened  to  be  in  company  with  some  friends  of 
mine,  when  you  were  walking  in  the  street,  and 
seeing  us  you  came  directly  to  where  we  were  standing 
and  offered  the  Bible  to  us,  at  which  my  friends  did 
burst  into  laughter,  mocking  at  you;  yet  I  bought  a 
Bible  of  you.  When  I  reached  home  I  began  to  read 
it  diligently  and  the  Lord  took  my  heart  to  be  his 
own,  and  now  I  am  a  happy  man." 


Brazil 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  D.D. 
Caixa  de  Correio,  454,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

First  Agent  appointed  1854;  present  Agency  established  1876.  Circulation 
for  1919,  47,488  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since  1876,  1,235,798 
volumes. 

Only  depleted  shelves  limited  the  circulation. 
"Many  times  during  the  year,"  says  Dr.  Tucker,  "we 
were  not  able  to  furnish  even  a  few  copies  to  those 
who  sent  in  requests  for  large  supplies,  and  at  times 
some  of  the  colporteurs  were  without  Scriptures  for 
days,  or  a  week,  or  two  at  a  time." 

The  approach  of  Brazil's  centennial  in  1922  is 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  importance  of  ob- 
taining a  Bible  House  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  to  meet  the 
needs  and  give  the  work  a  fitting  home. 

The  Growing  Demand 

Correspondents,  pastors,  and  evangelists,  as  well 
as  colporteurs,  report  a  larger  number  of  persons 
privately  asking  for  copies  of  the  Bible.  Letters  have 
come  in  unusual  numbers  to  the  Bible  House,  and, 
increasingly  individuals  have  called  at  the  Bible  store 
to  purchase  Scriptures.  The  result  has  been  a  circu- 
lation of  9,389  Bibles,  13,128  Testaments,  and  24,971 
portions,  in  21  languages. 

The  Sunday  schools,  the  mission  schools,  and  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  have  contributed  much  to  the  growing 
demand. 

Sunday  Schools,  Mission  Schools,  and  theY.M.C.  A. 

"Very  special  prominence  is  given  to  the  Bible 
in  the  Sunday  schools  of  Brazil  for  several  rea- 
sons. First,  it  is  pre-eminently  the  textbook  of  the 
Sunday  school;  second,  it  is  a  book  that  has  been 
comparatively  little  known  and  read  by  the  people 
generally,  and  consequently  it  attracts  special  atten- 
tion and  is  of  peculiar  interest  among  those  who  read 


BRAZIL  121 

and  study  it  for  the  first  time;  third,  there  is  a  very 
small  variety  and  supply  of  Sunday-school  literature 
in  Portuguese,  hence  the  necessity  of  a  more  general 
use  of  Bibles  and  Testaments.  A  number  of  schools 
endeavor  to  have  each  pupil  own  a  Bible  and  have 
it  on  hand  at  the  school  every  Sunday. 

11  The  mission  schools  and  colleges  make  free  use  of 
the  Bible,  conduct  courses  in  Bible  study,  and  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  reading  and  daily  use  of  the  Word 
of  God. 

"The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  have 
made  special  provisions  for  courses  and  classes  in  Bible 
study.  Their  movement  is  awakening  interest  and 
tends  to  increase  demands  for  Scriptures.  There  is 
the  most  cordial  co-operation  between  all  these 
agencies  and  the  Bible  Society." 

Where  They  Work 

Mention  is  made  of  a  colporteur  whose  area  of 
activity  was  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro ;  another  whose 
field  was  the  region  of  the  Central  Railway  and  its 
branches,  and  another  who  gave  the  entire  year  to 
Sao  Paulo,  the  greatest  commercial,  industrial,  and 
social  center,  next  to  the  capital;  while  another 
worked  through  the  district  composed  of  the  states 
of  Pernambuco,  Parahyba,  and  Rio  Grande  do  Norte. 
By  mutual  arrangement  with  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  certain  states  in  the  republic  are  allotted 
to  one  Society,  and  certain  states  to  the  other. 

Correspondents 

"As  has  been  the  case  for  several  years  past  much 
of  the  work  of  Bible  distribution  in  this  Agency 
has  been  accomplished  again  through  our  efficient 
correspondents  and  the  colporteurs  employed  by 
them.  The  mention  of  their  names  or  even  a  brief 
account  of  the  work  of  each  would  make  this  report 
too  long. 


122  BRAZIL 

A  Notable  Journey 

"One  of  the  most  active  and  successful  of  these  is 
Mr.  F.  C.  Glass,  who  some  years  ago  was  for  quite 
a  time  on  our  roll  of  colporteurs.  Mr.  Glass  made 
during  this  year  a  notable  journey  along  the  coast  by 
boat,  over  railroads,  on  horseback,  and  about  2,000 
miles  in  a  canoe  down  the  Araguaya  River.  He 
traveled  in  all  about  6,000  miles  and  occupied  four 
months.  His  object  was  to  visit  a  tribe  of  Indians 
known  as  the  Carajas,  of  whom  he  writes: 

The  Ctrajas 

'"These  Indians  live  in  just  the  same  way  their 
forefathers  lived  four  hundred  years  ago  when  Brazil 
was  undiscovered.  Their  customs  and  culture  are 
about  as  rudimentary  as  those  of  any  people  on  earth. 
Their  only  weapons  are  bows  and  arrows,  clubs,  and 
stone  instruments,  with  which  they  are  equally  skill- 
ful in  war,  the  chase,  or  for  obtaining  the  fish  which 
is  their  chief  article  of  diet;  calabashes  and  shells 
forming  about  their  only  utensils.  They  use  no 
clothing  whatever,  painting  their  bodies  with  bright 
vegetable  colors,  and  are  perfectly  unashamed.  A 
healthy,  dignified,  and  most  interesting  people,  with- 
out the  ban  of  caste,  the  curse  of  idolatry,  or  a  coun- 
terfeit Christianity,  who,  with  the  lovely  setting  of 
the  great  Araguaya  River,  form  a  very  picturesque  and 
romantic  picture;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  living  like 
wild  animals,  and  whose  only  ambition  or  God  seems 
to  be  their  stomachs.  They  possess  vague  ideas  of 
evil  spirits  of  the  forests  that  shut  them  in,  and  are 
naturally  superstitious.  They  appear  to  have  no 
words  in  their  dialect  which  convey  the  idea  of  any 
of  the  great  masterwords  of  the  gospel;  yet  they  are 
not  image  worshipers  like  many  Brazilians,  and  they 
are  largely  free  from  the  gross  and  cruel  ideas  and 
immorality  of  the  so-called  savage  races.'  " 


Levant 

Acting  Agency  Secretary:  Mr.  W.  W.  Peet 
Bible  House,  Constantinople,  Turkey. 

Rev.  Franklin  E.  Hoskins,  D.D. 

(In  charge  of  the  Arabic-speaking  portion  of  the  field), 
Beirut,  Syria. 

Established  1836.  Field:  The  former  Turkish  Empire  in  Europe  and  Asia, 
Bulgaria,  Greece,  Servia,  Bulgarian  Macedonia,  Albania,  Egypt,  and 
the  Soudan.  Circulation  in  1919,  49,643  volumes.  Aggregate  cir- 
culation 4,018,995  volumes. 

An  authoritative  and  important  statement  of  con- 
ditions in  what  was  formerly  the  Ottoman  Empire 
is  made  by  Mr.  Peet.  Long  a  resident  in  Constan- 
tinople, and  widely  recognized  and  consulted  as  a 
wise  counselor  by  government  authorities  as  well  as 
by  missionary  bodies,  he  tells  with  calmness  and  force 
the  story  of  the  conditions  in  1919.  Incidents  given 
show  the  Turkish  mind  is  opening  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  ways  of  Christian  thinking. 

Three  Sections 

Conditions  necessitated  the  continuance  of  the 
arrangement  by  which  the  work  of  this  large  field 
was  practically  directed  from  three  different  centers; 
Mr.  Peet  in  charge,  at  Constantinople,  of  the  work 
in  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey;  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hoskins,  at  Beirut,  looking  after  the  Syria  section, 
with  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  C.  A.  Dana,  of  the 
American  Press;  and  Mr.  Mikhail  Bakhit  caring  for 
the  work  in  Egypt,  with  the  advice  of  Mr.  C.  S.  Bell, 
of  the  American  Mission.  The  total  circulation  of 
the  Scriptures  in  all  these  sections  is  still  far  short  of 
what  it  was  in  pre-war  days — 8,148  Bibles,  12,985 
Testaments,  and  28,510  portions,  giving  a  total  of 
49,643  volumes. 

Uncertainty  and  Expectation 

"Uncertainty  and  expectation  may  be  designated 
as  the  main  features  of  the  year  that  has  just  gone 


124  LEVANT 

by,"  writes  Mr.  Peet  in  beginning  his  report.  "It 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  Peace  Conference  in  Paris 
has  already  done  a  very  important  work;  but  as 
long  as  the  destiny  of  these  lands  of  the  Orient  re- 
mains unsettled,  its  task  will  by  no  means  be  com- 
pleted." Commercial  intercourse  has  been  far  from 
stable,  postal  communications  slow  and  precarious, 
and  traveling  difficulties  prevailed  only  second  to 
those  during  the  height  of  the  war.  "Perhaps  no 
country  except  Russia  was  shaken  in  1919  with  so 
many  convulsions  of  anxiety  as  the  lands  of  the 
Orient  which  have  hitherto  constituted  the  Turkish 
Empire." 

Allied  Wisdom  and  Benevolence 

"It  must  be  acknowledged  in  all  justice  that  the 
Allied  Powers,  who  have  been  holding  this  country 
in  their  hands  since  the  day  the  armistice  was  signed, 
have  shown,  besides  a  spirit  of  high  political  wisdom, 
sentiments  of  real  benevolence  to  these  long-tor- 
mented populations  of  the  Levant,  irrespectively  of 
race  or  creed.  Though  victors,  they  avoided  an  un- 
necessary display  of  their  triumph  at  the  time  they 
occupied  the  country.  They  took  every  precaution 
to  prevent  an  outburst  of  feelings  on  the  part  of 
those  who  were  deeply  humiliated  by  the  outcome  of 
the  war,  and  to  discourage  any  undue  liberty  that 
might  be  taken  by  sections  of  the  population  who  were 
apt  to  think  that  the  time  had  come  for  vengeance  or 
for  redressing  of  wrongs. 

Ottoman  Empire  a  Prostrate  Mass  j 

"The  capital  of  the  Turkish  State  still  wears 
the  same  aspect  as  before  the  war,  excepting  that 
it  has  manifestly  become  more  populous  and  that 
its  motley  crowds,  which  always  attracted  the  tour- 
ist's curiosity,  are  now  more  richly  variegated  with 
the    uniforms    of    British,    French,   American,    Ital- 


LEVANT  125 

ian,  Greek,  Servian,  and  Japanese  military  and  naval 
forces ;  while  its  famous  Babel  of  languages  is  more 
confusing  than  ever  by  the  addition  of  colonial  lan- 
guages spoken  by  troops  from  India  and  Australia, 
Algeria,  and  Senegal,  Indo-China,  and  Madagascar. 

"Peaceful  penetration  into  the  principal  depart- 
ments of  Turkish  administration  has  been  slowly  but 
effectively  accomplished  by  the  victorious  Allies,  who 
have  finally  become  the  real  masters  of  the  country 
with  a  mere  phantom  of  Turkish  authority  peering 
from  the  background.  They  do  not  govern  the 
country  in  the  active  sense  of  the  word,  but  they  are 
constantly  watchful  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the 
excesses  for  which  Turkish  methods  of  government 
have  gained  so  unfortunate  a  notoriety.  At  this  day 
the  once  mighty  Ottoman  Empire  is  a  paralyzed, 
shapeless,  prostrate  mass. 

Distress  Unparalleled  in  Two  Centuries 

"Turkey  has  hardly  seen  any  prosperous  days 
during  the  last  two  centuries,  but  the  present  situa- 
tion of  distress  is  altogether  unparalleled  in  her  his- 
tory. Military  conscription,  massacres,  and  deporta- 
tions have  drained  away  three-quarters  of  the  coun- 
try's productive  force,  if  not  more.  Unsafe  roads  in 
the  interior,  scarcity  of  vessels  for  communication  by 
sea,  and  enormous  expenses  for  loading  and  unload- 
ing goods,  are  forming  serious  disadvantages  to  com- 
merce. 

General  Remarks 

The  relief  work  accomplished  by  the  American 
Committee  for  Relief  in  the  Near  East,  and  that  by 
American  and  Greek  relief  committees  for  those  of 
their  own  nationalities,  have  done  much  to  help 
sustain  life.  "Moslems  and  Christians  were  never 
so  much  estranged  from  each  other  as  they  have  been 
during  this  year."     The  Turks  still  reserve  to  them- 


126  LEVANT 

selves  a  sense  of  superiority  over  those  whose  fore- 
fathers were  subjugated  by  their  ancestors,  and  they 
look  with  scorn  upon  their  Christian  neighbors'  en- 
thusiastic hopes.  Of  course,  there  are  many  among 
the  Turks  who  are  keenly  alive  to  the  reality  of  the 
situation,  and  who  deplore  all  that  has  been  done 
in  their  nation's  name  by  its  disreputable  leaders  at 
the  time  of  the  war.  "One  thing  seems  certain,  that 
whether  the  Turk  goes  or  stays,  his  methods  of  rule 
shall  disappear." 

Bible  Work  Hard  Hit  in  War 

"The  late  war  has  affected  Bible  work  more  serious- 
ly than  any  other  event  in  the  history  of  the  Levant 
Agency.  No  direct  opposition  to  Bible  work  was 
made,  as  sometimes  has  happened  in  peaceful  times, 
but  the  work  collapsed  of  its  own  weight,  simply  for 
the  lack  of  a  patronizing  supporter.  Christians  were 
dispersed,  while  the  Mohammedans  were  roused  to  a 
fierce  fanaticism,  which  left  no  room  for  Bible  circu- 
lation." 

Beginning  Again 

The  year  1919,  however,  has  seen  a  general  resump- 
tion of  Bible  work,  though  it  has  not  seemed  wise  or 
possible  to  reopen  colportage  work  in  the  interior. 
At  headquarters,  printing,  and  especially  the  binding 
of  printed  sheets  which  were  in  stock,  has  had  to  be 
pushed  forward  with  much  energy  in  order  to  meet 
the  call  for  Scriptures  that  is  arising.  The  trans- 
portation of  Scriptures  to  places  outside  of  Con- 
stantinople has  been  very  difficult,  and  has  been 
largely  accomplished  through  the  courtesy  of  Brit- 
ish officers  or  of  the  American  agents  of  the  Com- 
mittee for  Relief  in  the  Near  East. 

EUROPEAN  TURKEY 

Turning  more  specifically  to  the  actual  work  of 
circulating  the  Scriptures,  incidents  are  given  of  the 


LEVANT  127 

experiences  of  colporteurs,   some  of  whom  had  not 
been  heard  from  during  the  years  of  the  war. 

Heartless  Treatment 

An  Armenian,  in  Adrianople,  was  able  to  do  good 
work  in  the  first  year  of  the  general  war,  but  in  1916 
was  cruelly  driven  out  of  his  residence,  his  effects  and 
stock  of  Scriptures  seized  by  the  Turkish  authorities, 
and  he  himself  sent  in  an  open  lighter,  with  other 
Armenians  of  both  sexes  and  every  age,  for  deporta- 
tion into  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor.  When  the 
lighter  arrived  on  the  eastern  shore,  orders  were  re- 
ceived to  tow  it  back  to  the  western  shore  of  the 
Marmora  Sea,  no  reason  ever  having  been  given;  but 
the  colporteur  was  not  allowed  to  return  to  Adrian- 
ople, and  only  last  spring  found  his  way  back  to 
Constantinople. 

ASIATIC  TURKEY 
A  Surprising  Fact 

It  seems  almost  incredible,  but  the  fact  is  recorded 
that  not  only  were  two  colporteurs  able  to  continue 
the  sale  of  the  Scriptures  in  Constantinople  through 
the  period  of  the  war,  but  also  colporteurs  were  simi- 
larly active  throughout  the  war  at  Smyrna,  Brusa, 
and  Aleppo,  though  not  without  danger. 

Individual  Experiences 

The  colporteur  at  Smyrna  lost  his  Armenian  helper, 
who  was  seized  and  thrown  into  prison  for  carrying 
about  Scriptures  in  the  Turkish  language.  Nothing 
was  subsequently  heard,  and  it  was  reported  that  he 
had  died.  "Who  knows,"  says  Mr.  Abajoghlou,  the 
colporteur,  "what  horrible  treatment  caused  my 
poor  fellow-worker's  death!"  He  himself  escaped 
enlistment  only  by  paying  an  exemption  fee,  first, 
and  then  by  registering  as  a  Protestant  preacher, 
and  through  the  influence  of  an  English  lady  residing 


128  LEVANT 

in  Smyrna,  who  helped  him  to  circulate  the  Scrip- 
tures. A  colporteur  of  Aleppo  escaped  death  only 
through  the  intervention  of  an  influential  Turkish 
friend,  who  twice  saved  him  from  the  authorities. 

BULGARIA 

Mr.  Popoff,  the  well-known  representative  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  in  Bulgaria,  tells  of  the  work 
in  that  land,  of  which  only  brief  excerpts  can  now  be 
given : 

Timely  Help 

"The  Rev.  T.  T.  Hoi  way,  an  American  missionary, 
was  in  Sofia  in  April  as  a  member  of  a  large  American 
relief  committee  for  Armenia.  He  had  personal  goods 
to  bring  from  Constantinople,  and  it  was  arranged 
with  him  to  engage  a  freight  car,  which  for  him,  as  an 
American,  could  be  brought  to  Sofia.  In  that  car  he 
brought  also  the  Bibles.  He  himself  with  an  Ameri- 
can soldier  traveled  several  days  from  Constantinople 
to  Sofia  in  the  freight  car  to  protect  the  goods  from 
theft.  Thanks  to  them,  in  the  latter  part  of  April  I 
was  glad  to  receive  twenty-four  boxes  of  Scriptures." 

Prices 

While  the  price  of  the  books  has  had  to  be  ad- 
vanced five  times  their  previous  catalogue  value,  they 
still  are  among  the  low-priced  articles  available.  A 
priest  from  Plevna  bought  a  Bible  for  a  young  man 
and  was  astonished  at  the  price,  6.50  levs,  saying 
that  he  had  expected  and  was  authorized  by  the  young 
man  to  pay  50  levs.  The  total  circulation  amounted 
to  10,797  volumes  of  Scriptures,  all  but  71  of  them 
by  sale. 

EGYPT 

"Egypt  during  the  past  year  has  been  stirred  up 
and  troubled  in  the  name  of  independence."     Conse- 


LEVANT  129 

quently,  the  colporteurs  were  much  interrupted  in 
their  work,  especially  during  the  time  when  railway 
communications  were  destroyed,  Mr.  Bakhit  himself 
having  been  stranded  for  some  two  months  away  from 
his  family  and  headquarters.  Nevertheless,  25,347 
volumes  of  Scripture  were  sold  during  the  year. 

A  Few  Figures 

Mr.  Bakhit  says:  "We  have  18  colporteurs  who 
worked  the  entire  year,  spending  in  service  6,570 
days,  traveling  18,119  miles  and  visiting  731  towns 
and  villages.  Contributions  have  been  received  dur- 
ing the  year  for  the  Bible  work  to  the  total  of  $492.30, 
of  which  $415.80  was  from  the  congregations  and 
$76.50  from  individual  contributors. 

Colporteurs'  Reports 

"The  universal  refrain  of  the  colporteur's  report 
throughout  the  year  has  been  one  of  thanksgiving  to 
God  for  his  care  over  them  and  their  families  during 
the  troublous  times.  They  also  thank  Him  for 
helping  them  to  continue  in  their  work  as  colporteurs, 
in  spite  of  their  financial  difficulties  due  to  their  small 
salaries  and  their  heavy  traveling  expenses.  They 
report  that  the  movement  toward  unity  in  politics 
between  the  Copts  and  the  Moslems  has  given  them 
greater  acceptance  with  the  latter,  so  that  they  were 
able  to  distribute  more  than  800  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures among  them.  Most  of  these  copies  were  taken 
by  the  more  important  and  educated  people,  such  as 
judges,  beys,  and  high  officials." 


Siam 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  Robert  Irwin 
Bangkok,  Siam. 

Established  1890.     Circulation  in  1919,  90,264  volumes.     Aggregate  circu- 
lation since  1890,  1,810,196  volumes. 

Food  for  thought  abounds  in  this  report.  House- 
to-house  visitation  throughout  a  whole  district  was 
bravely  undertaken  during  the  year.  Provision  for, 
and  progress  in,  the  training  of  colporteurs,  pushing 
forward  into  new  and  difficult  fields,  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  Scriptures  in  various  languages  and  suitable 
forms,  are  some  of  the  important  matters  which  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  Agency  Secretary. 

A  Critic  Answered 
A  correspondent  of  the  Bangkok  Times  having 
criticized  the  Bible  Societies  for  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures into  the  vernacular  and  distributing  them,  the 
report  enters  into  such  questions  as,  Ought  the  Scrip- 
tures to  be  translated  and  donated?  and  sets  forth, 
both  from  history  and  from  experience,  the  great 
benefits  which  have  come  to  peoples  the  world  over 
through  the  translation  and  circulation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

A  Challenge 

That  the  Christian  life  is  a  joyful  one,  and  that 
there  is  the  Christian  paradox  of  happiness  through 
service;  that  it  is  righteousness  which  exalteth  a 
nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people;  that 
Christianity  means,  and  should  mean,  international 
goodwill;  that  the  Christian  element  in  Siam  needs 
to  catch  the  vision;  and  that  Siam  and  surrounding 
countries  need  "an  influx  of  idealism" — are  thoughts 
held  up  for  the  consideration  of  all,  with  the  chal- 
lenge to  his  fellow-missionaries  to  adopt  the  hay- 
stack slogan,  "We  can  if  we  will";  for  he  reminds 


SIAM  131 

them  that   Christianity  is,   after  all,  indigenous   to 
the  Orient. 

The  Response 

That  many  missionaries  have  entered  into  this  large 
conception  and  are  already  endeavoring  to  bring  it 
about,  is  illustrated  by  succeeding  pages  of  the  report, 
as  found  in  full  in  the  Annual  Report.  An  illustration 
is  given  in  the  following  about  a  house-to-house  can- 
vass of  the  entire  province  of  Prae,  together  with  a 
section  of  Lakawn  and  another  of  Chiengrai : 

Prae  Field — House-to-House  Canvass 

''Twenty-one  men  and  four  women  were  employed. 
Mr.  Callender  estimates  the  area  covered  at  2,000 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  100,000,  315  villages 
and  towns,  and  13,867  houses.  A  little  over  30,000 
portions  of  Scripture  were  distributed,  of  which  1,605 
were  in  Siamese,  a  few  in  Chinese  and  Western  Shan. 
The  rest  were  in  Lao.  The  cost  to  the  Society  of  the 
work  was  1,485  ticals,  or  $557.  The  main  work  was 
done  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  year,  some 
mountainous  districts  difficult  of  access  being  not 
finished  till  near  the  end  of  the  year.  We  quote  the 
following  from  Mr.  Callender 's  very  full  report,  itself 
taken  largely  from  the  lips  of  the  colporteurs : 

'"The  plan  was  to  get  as  many  as  possible  to  dis- 
tribute the  Scriptures  in  order  to  create  enthusiasm — 
which  goes  a  long  way  towards  successful  missionary 
effort.  None  but  Christians  were  employed,  and  we 
got  the  best  available.  Some  were  jewels,  some  were 
gems  in  the  rough,  and  some  were  very  ordinary 
material.  But  when  the  work  is  needed  to  be  done, 
the  best  material  available  must  be  harnessed  and 
sent  forth.  The  plan  involved  bi-weekly  conferences 
for  those  distributing  in  the  Prae  plain,  and  as  often 
as  practicable  for  those  distributing  at  more  distant 
points." 


132 


SIAM 

Difficulties  and  Prayer 


Many  of  these  workers  had  difficulties.  Some  of 
the  women  colporteurs,  especially,  encountered  op- 
position and  were  ordered  politely  to  leave,  as  their 


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AI  SIANG 
One  of  the  first  Christians  from  the  Kamus,  in  French  territory  bordering 
Siam,  where  Christians  "are  not  allowed  to  have  instruction,  and  have  to 
meet  very  carefully  for  worship." 

Christian  teachings  were  not  wanted.     Sometimes,  as 
night  approached,  they  had  no  place  to  lodge.     Then 


SI  AM  133 

resort  to  prayer  brought  cheering  answer.  For  ex- 
ample, one  evening,  "they  were  in  the  sala  or  public 
lodging-place,  where  it  would  not  do  for  women  to 
stay  unprotected.  Soon  after  prayer,  a  woman  came 
down  from  her  house  near  by  and  entered  into  con- 
versation with  them.  The  sequel  was  that  she  in- 
vited the  whole  party  of  four  women  to  lodge  with 
her  that  night  and  share  her  hospitality." 

Rough  Roads,  Sore  Feet,  Kind  Welcomes 

Some  of  the  men  canvassers  had  rough  roads,  high 
mountains  and  steep  hills  to  climb,  and  often  became 
sore  of  foot;  but  they  were  welcomed  by  the  chief 
men  of  the  villages  and  of  the  monasteries,  and  by  the 
people,  and  had  encouraging  opportunities  to  pass  on 
the  message.  "All  the  Siamese  and  Lao  officials  were 
visited,  and  all  the  monasteries.  To  the  three  highest 
Siamese  officials  in  Prae  City  was  given  each  a  New 
Testament  in  Siamese  and  to  the  three  highest  Lao 
noblemen  each  a  New  Testament  in  Lao.  Two  of 
the  Siamese  officials  wrote  notes  of  appreciation. 

Let  Your  Imagination  Loose 

"It  is  difficult  for  those  of  us  who  have  not  been 
over  the  ground  or  done  something  of  this  kind  of 
work,  to  appreciate  what  it  means  to  cover  the  terri- 
tory of  a  province  and  to  enter  every  house  in  it. 
Remember  these  colporteurs  went  mostly  barefooted 
and  bareheaded,  with  only  a  shoulder  bag  and  a  long- 
bladed  knife,  and  that  it  is  a  mountainous  country, 
whose  roads  are  mostly  lonely  trails  along  bridgeless 
streams,  with  tiger  and  robber  infested  forests, 
and  whose  people  are  suspicious  of  every  stranger. 
Unless  we  let  our  imagination  loose,  we  are  apt  to 
suppose  that  these  men  have  an  easy  time  of  it  on 
their  eight  dollars  a  month.  To  one  who  actually 
thinks  the  matter  out,  these  colporteurs  are  the  real 
Peace  Commissioners." 


134  SIAM 

In  Bangkok 

( )!'  Hie  work  in  Bangkok,  Mr.  Irwin  says:  "It  is  a 
most  cosmopolitan  city  and  growing.  A  large  num- 
ber of  Indians  are  accessible.  Mrs.  McClure  tells  of 
giving  a  Hindustani  Bible  to  an  Indian.  A  week  later 
she  met  him  an  inquired  whether  he  had  read  some 
of  it.  'All  of  it,'  he  said.  Incredulous,  she  questioned 
him  on  what  he  had  read  and  he  was  able  to  tell  her 
about  the  Old  Testament  characters,  and  to  show  an 
intelligent  knowledge  of  the  New.  He  said,  'Mem, 
I  1  >egan  at  the  beginning  (pointing  to  the  back  of  the 
book)  and  read  to  here  (what  to  us  would  have  been 
the  beginning).  Now,  my  friend  is  reading  it  and 
all  of  them  want  it.' 

"A  young  man  came  to  say  that  he  and  his  mother 
and  younger  brother  wished  to  become  believers  and 
desired  a  service  in  their  house.  He  said  they  had 
1  kvii  led  to  this  decision  some  weeks  before  by  reading 
the  books  given  them  by  a  man  whose  name  he  did 
not  know.  From  the  description  and  date  I  was 
able  to  identify  the  colporteur  quite  easily." 

Untouched  and  Unopened  Fields 

While  he  reports  with  joy  that  the  British  Shan 
States  are  being  entered  by  one  of  the  missions,  Mr. 
Irwin  records  with  regret  that  nothing  has  as  yet 
been  done  in  Eastern  Siam,  and  that  French  territory 
is  closed  to  evangelical  and  Bible  work,  except  three 
cities  along  the  coast  and  the  central  province  of 
Cochin-China. 

Training  Colporteurs 

A  phase  of  the  work  to  which  Mr.  Irwin  has  given 
much  thought  and  time,  and  for  the  accomplishment 
of  which  he  has  prepared  a  series  of  textbooks,  is  the 
training  of  colporteurs.  As  he  visits  the  different 
missions,  opportunity  is  sought  and  obtained  of  con- 
dneting  classes;    and  results  are  encouraging.     The 


sum  135 

work  and  life  of  the  colporteur  are  hard,  and  cour- 
age, initiative,  and  pioneer  spirit  are  not  particularly 
prominent  in  the  people. 

Shining  Examples 

Nevertheless,  there  are  shining  examples:  "Ai  Noi 
of  Chiengrai,  Mr.  Bachtell's  cook,  is  a  sample  of  the 
opening  of  mental  power  and  aggressive  energy  by 
the  gospel.  He  learnt  to  read  and  now  is  interested 
in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  He  misses  no  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  classes.  He  volunteered  this  year  to 
go  to  Luang  Prabang,  in  French  territory,  as  a  col- 
porteur whenever  the  French  give  permission  for  us 
to  enter.  This  result  is  not  an  impulse,  but  a  process 
covering  a  number  of  years.  It  is  noticeable  that  the 
brightest  faces  are  the  ones  that  have  been  studying 
the  longest ;  some  of  the  beginners  are  dull  and  dark. 

"In  one  of  his  tours,  Mr.  Metcalf,  of  the  China  In- 
land Mission,  in  northern  Yunnan,  found  several  Tai 
villages  ready  to  give  up  their  spirit  worship  for 
Christianity,  and  appealed  to  Chiengrung  Station  to 
send  him  a  native  teacher.  The  appeal  was  forwarded 
to  the  Mission  and  in  response  a  young  man  went 
from  Nan.  Now  his  brother  has  gone  to  join  him 
as  a  colporteur,  and  both  intend  to  stay  there." 

Ponderous  Bibles 

The  revision  work  is  making  progress  in  Siamese 
and  Lao,  but  there  is  great  need  for  the  reduction,  in 
size,  of  the  type  and  the  book,  in  order  that  the 
Siamese  Bible,  which  is  about  three-fourths  the  di- 
mensions of  Webster's  Unabridged  Dictionary,  may  be 
brought  down  to  a  more  portable  size. 


China 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  John  R.  Hykes,  D.D. 
73  Szcchuen  Road,  Shanghai,  China. 

Established  1876.     Circulation  in   1919,  967,381  volumes.     Aggregate  cir- 
culation since  1876,  26,682,041  volumes. 

"The  open-door"  policy  is  happily  true  of  China 
at  present,  so  far  as  the  Bible  is  concerned.  Not  only 
do  the  President  of  China,  whose  words  are  quoted 
below,  and  other  prominent  officials  whose  testimony 
has  appeared  in  the  Bible  Society  Record,  speak  in 
high  terms  of  the  Bible,  but  also  the  common  people 
are  welcoming  its  message  and  its  power. 


"The  instruction  concerning  all  virtue,  as  con- 
tained in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Religion  of 
Jesus,  has  truly  exerted  an  unlimited  influence  for 
good  among  all  Christians  in  China,  and  has  also 
raised  the  standard  of  all  my  people  along  lines  of 
true  progress.  I  earnestly  hope  that  the  future 
benefits  derived  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  will  ex- 
tend to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  transcend  the 
success  of  the  past." 


PRESIDENT    OF    CHINA  S    TESTIMONY 

An  Immense  Work 

This  Agency  is,  like  the  country  it  serves,  immense; 
and  the  report  of  its  activities  is  so  full  of  important 
facts  and  interesting  incidents  that  it  is  hopeless,  in 
the  space  available  in  the  Story,  to  give  any  adequate 
conception  of  them.  Referring  any  interested  to  the 
full  report  as  it  appears  in  the  Annual  Report,  we  must 
here  present  only  a  scant  selection,  without  always 
giving  credit  or  balancing  quotations. 

Sub-Atfency  Secretaries 

The  work  under  Dr.  Hykes  has  been  directed  by 
four  sub-Agency  Secretaries:   the  Rev.  W.  S.  Strong, 


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138  CHINA 

at  Peking,  reporting  for  the  North  China  Sub-Agency ; 
the  Rev.  J.  Johnson,  at  Hankow,  for  the  Central  China 
Sub-Agency;  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Hooker,  at  Chungking, 
for  the  Eastern  Szechuen  Sub-Agency;  and  the  Rev. 
T.  Torrance,  at  Chengtu,  for  the  Western  Szechuen 
Sub-Agency. 

Circulation   Rising  Again 

The  combined  circulation  rose  again,  but  has  not 
begun  to  equal  that  of  previous  years,  simply  because 
the  books  were  not  available;  12,000  Bibles,  31,078 
Testaments,  and  924,303  portions,  or  a  total  of  967,381 
volumes,  being  circulated. 

The  Mandarin  and  Wenli  Bibles 

The  notable  event  of  the  year  in  the  manufacturing 
line  was  the  publication  for  the  first  time  of  the 
Mandarin  Union  Version,  in  both  the  Shangti  and 
Shen  editions,  and  the  Wenli  Union  Version  in  the 
same  two  editions,  after  a  generation  of  work  by  the 
Union  Revision  Committees  in  their  preparation. 
Evidencing  the  cordial  relation  and  real  comity 
existing  among  the  three  greatest  Bible  Societies  in 
the  world,  these  first  editions  were  manufactured 
conjointly  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  and  the 
American  Bible  Society,  a  form  of  co-operation  which 
has  long  been  their  practice. 

Translation  and  Editorial  Work 

"With  the  completion  of  the  Mandarin  and  Wenli 
Union  versions  of  the  Bible  last  year,  we  have  no 
translation  or  editorial  work  in  hand;  and  it  is  not 
likely  that  much  more  will  have  to  be  done  in  this 
line.  Existing  translations  cover  the  whole  of  China, 
with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  aboriginal  or  non- 
Chinese  tribes  in  the  west,  south,  and  southwest. 
None  of  the  languages  of  these  aborigines  have  been 


CHINA  139 

reduced  to  writing,  except  the  few  in  which  parts 
of  the  Bible  have  been  translated  into  'Pollard's 
script.' " 

Manufacture 

Increased  appropriations  made  possible  an  increase 
in  the  manufacture  of  books:  24,000  Bibles,  16,000 
Testaments,  and  1,412,500  portions,  a  total  of  1,452,- 
500  being  produced — 878,000  more  than  the  year  be- 
fore; but  they  did  not  get  into  circulation  in  time  to 
replenish  all  the  empty  shelves  during  1919. 

No   Society  Colporteurs 

As  mentioned  under  that  caption  in  the  previous 
pages,  the  foreign  missionaries  and  eight  voluntary 
native  workers  have  been  the  means  of  circulating 
the  larger  number  of  books.  One  such  mentions 
that  in  the  last  half  of  the  year  he  had  disposed  of 
11,160  books  personally.  The  Agency  had  no  col- 
porteurs paid  by  the  Society. 

NORTH  CHINA  SUB-AGENCY 

The  report  has  many  incidents  of  the  wonderful 
effect  of  the  simple  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  a  num- 
ber of  which  have  been  already  mentioned  under  that 
caption.  Mr.  Strong,  in  charge  at  Peking,  says  they 
could  have  sold  three  times  as  many  books  if  there 
had  been  a  supply.  The  direct  influence  of  the 
depletion  of  stock  on  circulation  is  shown  by  a 
tabular  statement  of  the  number  of  volumes  circu- 
lated for  the  five  years  of  the  war,  1915-1919,  which 
gradually  diminished  from  1,058,781  copies  in  1915 
to  327,766  copies  in  1919. 

No  Obstacles  by  Chinese  Influences 

No  obstacles  are  placed  in  the  way  of  the  spreading 
of  the  gospel  at  present  in  China  by  Chinese  influences. 
The  Bible  shop  at  Peking  is  probably  one  of  the  best 


140  CHINA 

known  places  in  the  city,  being  a  Mecca  for  students. 
The  new  supply  of  Scriptures  received  toward  the  end 
of  the  year  gives  promise  that  soon  the  eighty  centers 
of  distribution  which  have  been  lost  will  be  recovered. 

Churches  from  Colporteurs'  Seed-Sowing 

"The  value  of  early  colportage  work  becomes 
clearer  as  the  years  go  by,  and  I  know  we  should 
never  have  been  able  to  build  up  the  thirty  or  forty 
churches  which  have  developed  in  this  section  had  it 
not  been  for  the  preliminary  work  and  seed-sowing 
done  by  the  colporteurs  of  the  Bible  Society,"  is  the 
testimony  of  the  Rev.  W.  O.  Pye,  of  the  American 
Board  Mission,  Fenchow,  Shansi. 

Noted  Chinese  Testify 

It  was  Mr.  Strong  who  obtained  the  testimony  of 
Chinese  officials  as  to  the  value  of  the  Bible,  which 
have  appeared  in  the  publications  of  the  Society. 
In  addition  to  the  President  of  China,  the  ex-Presi- 
dent, the  Foreign  Minister,  Dr.  Wu  Ting  Fang,  for- 
merly Chinese  minister  at  Washington,  Yu-yue  Tsu, 
a  noted  educator,  and  Hon.  Wen  Shih  Tsin,  com- 
missioner for  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  viceroy  at  Nan- 
king, sent  messages  on  the  subject,  which  are  in  the 
Annual  Report. 

•♦All  For  Want  of  Books" 

Nearly  three  hundred  centers  of  distribution  which 
had  been  lost — all  for  want  of  books — in  the  great 
plains  of  Chihli  will  soon  be  reopened,  now  that 
Scriptures  are  becoming  available. 

Bible  Classes  in  Government  Schools 

"Bible  classes  are  conducted  steadily  all  through 
the  educational  institutions,  both  mission  and  govern- 
ment, where  there  are  mission  teachers,"  is  another 
encouraging  statement  from  Mr.  Strong. 


CHINA  141 

CENTRAL  CHINA  SUB-AGENCY 

[n  the  Central  China  Sub-Agency,  "400  mission- 
aries and  Christian  workers  are  voluntarily  distribu- 
ting the  Society's  books  from  not  less  than  the  same 
number  of  centers  scattered  over  the  whole  of  Central 
China." 

Voluntary  Work 

' '  The  very  inability  of  the  Society  to  employ  its  own 
colporteurs  is  proving  a  blessing  in  disguise."  While 
the  loss  of  employed  colporteurs  was  deeply  deplored, 
it  led  to  the  development  of  this  voluntary  distribu- 
tion. The  growing  Christian  communities  and 
churches  are  tying  up  the  missionaries  so  that  they 
are  not  able  to  participate,  in  some  regions,  in  the 
distribution  as  much  as  before;  but  their  enthusiasm 
infused  into  the  pastors  and  preachers  who  work  with 
them,  and  into  the  members  of  their  churches,  is 
beginning  to  tell.  In  one  place,  two  workers  sup- 
port themselves  entirely  on  the  proceeds  of  their 
sales  on  the  steamers  and  at  the  railway  station. 
Another  worker  is  wholly  supported  by  the  native 
Christians. 

Rapid  Sales 

"Last  year  an  evangelistic  band  toured  a  few  of  the 
country  points.  It  was  the  first  time  that  such  a 
group  had  been  sent  out.  The  workers  had  not  been 
in  the  midst  of  evangelistic  services  but  two  days 
when  word  was  sent  in  to  hurry  on  some  more  portions. 
When  I  took  account  with  the  leader  of  the  band,  they 
had  sold  14  Bibles,  2,169  portions,  and  distributed 
8,184  tracts. 

Holy  Boldness 

"A  shining-faced  Christian  who  was  formerly  very 
timid,  and  especially  afraid  to  encounter  the  dogs  of 


142  CHINA 

the  various  houses  he  entered,  developed  a  measure 
of  'holy  boldness'  and  now  goes  fearlessly  round  the 
countryside,  visiting  the  farm-houses  and  preaching 
Christ  in  his  own  original  way.  With  a  bundle  of 
Gospel  portions  he  marches  in,  announcing  that  he 
has  come  with  'glad  tidings,'  and  to  warn  them  of 
coming  Judgment.  '  Take  this  book  and  read  it,  then 
get  to  work  to  sweep  your  loft' — one  is  always  safe 
making  that  suggestion  here  in  China — 'go  up  there 
and  pray  to  the  Living  God,  and  ask  the  Saviour  to 
forgive  your  sins  and  to  save  you  from  the  calamities 
which  are  about  to  come  upon  the  world.'  Such  is 
the  effect  of  these  startling  words  that,  in  many  in- 
stances, the  whole  household  have  gathered  round  to 
listen  to  the  message  of  salvation,  gladly  offering  five 
or  ten  cash  for  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  for  them- 
selves. .  .  Tramping  over  the  hills,  far  removed  from 
the  evangelistic  centers,  it  rejoices  one's  heart  to  run 
across  a  Christian  home  right  amongst  the  darkness; 
then,  further  on,  another;  and  then,  again,  another, 
where  the  portions  of  God's  Word  have  gone  before 
us — 'Lights  in  the  darkness.'  What  a  power  there  is 
in  the  grand  old  gospel  still!" 

A  Million   Houses  Visited 

Colportage  boats  are  used  by  one  missionary  with 
telling  effect,  the  past  year  six  bands  of  eighty  men 
in  all  being  sent  out  in  as  many  boats.  "In  this 
way  a  very  large  territory  has  been  covered.  Dur- 
ing the  past  seven  years  these  bands  have  been 
at  work,  countless  towns  and  villages  have  been 
evangelized,  and  at  least  a  million  homes  visited, 
in  most  of  which  Scriptures  and  tracts  have  been 
placed.  Gospel  posters  have  been  posted  up  both 
inside  and  outside  of  inns,  barber  shops  and  other 
public  buildings." 

Though  somewhat  long,  the  following  excerpt  is 
well  worth  giving  in  full: 


CHINA  143 

A  Christian  General 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  characters  in  China 
to-day  is  the  Christian  General,  Feng  Yu  Hsiang, 
military  governor  of  western  Hunan,  with  head- 
quarters at  Changteh.  He  is  an  ideal  Christian,  who 
not  only  loves  the  Lord  with  all  his  heart,  but  who, 
also,  loves  his  neighbor  as  himself.  And  this  love  he 
manifests  by  taking  the  liveliest  interest  in  the  9,000 
soldiers  under  him,  as  well  as  in  the  seven  or  eight 
million  people  he  rules.  Amongst  his  soldiers  he  al- 
lows no  smoking,  drinking,  bad  language,  or  gambling. 
A  missionary,  who  recently  held  nine  days'  evangelistic 
meetings  for  them,  says  that  he  'never  saw  any 
smoking,  nor  smelt  the  fumes  of  drink.'  Another 
missionary  says  he  has  been  with  them  for  a  year  and 
has  never  heard  a  bad  word.  During  the  past  twelve 
months  more  than  a  thousand  of  these  soldiers  have 
become  Christians  and  have  been  baptized.  The 
majority  of  the  officers  are  Christians.  One  of  these 
has  won  sixty  of  his  men  to  the  Lord,  and  another 
says  that  nine  out  of  every  ten  of  his  men  are  Chris- 
tians. For  a  year  at  least,  there  have  been  con- 
tinuous evangelistic  meetings  amongst  the  soldiers, 
conducted  by  leading  Chinese  pastors  and  by  mis- 
sionaries of  various  denominations.  The  General 
himself  assists  in  the  services.  At  a  morning  prayer 
meeting  recently,  when  the  General  was  present,  the 
missionary  conducting  the  meeting  put  the  question, 
'Brethren,  what  are  the  deepest  needs  and  desires  of 
your  hearts?  Please  state  them  before  we  go  to 
prayer.'  The  General  made  answer,  'My  greatest 
wish  before  God  is,  that  every  one  of  my  9,000  men 
may  turn  to  the  Lord.'  There  seems  every  probabil- 
ity that  his  desire  will  be  granted  in  the  near  future, 
for  baptism  of  one  and  two  hundred  men  at  a  time 
are  frequently  taking  place. 

"To  meet  the  needs  of  his  men  the  General  has 
bought  as  many  as  500  New  Testaments  at  a  time. 


144  CHINA 

He  has  again  and  again  bought  all  the  Bibles  in  the 
different  missions.  Would  to  God  that  not  only  in 
China,  but  in  western  lands  also,  there  were  more 
generals  like  Feng  Yu  Hsiang!" 

"1,000  a  Month" 

"One  of  our  helpers  has  made  it  his  aim  this  year  to 
sell  the  portions  in  every  home  on  the  main  street 
here.  He  is  our  business  man,  and  a  very  bright  Chris- 
tian. It  has  long  been  our  prayer  that  the  Holy 
vSpirit  would  put  his  heart  on  fire.  May  God  help 
him  to  carry  out  his  purpose !  His  aim  is  to  sell  1 ,000 
portions  a  month.  He  wishes  to  sell  one  kind  each 
month,  and  thus  get  as  much  of  the  Bible  into  the 
homes  as  possible." 

Doctor  Becomes  Voluntary  Colporteur 

"We  have  a  man  who  is  now  selling  books  and 
preaching  without  salary.  He  has  come  out  very 
clearly  for  Christ  this  year.  He  used  to  sell  Chinese 
medicine.  Some  weeks  ago  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  his  business  was  wrong — that  he  was  sinning 
against  man  and  God.  He  finally  brought  all  his 
medicines  and  books  to  our  station  and  destroyed 
them  before  many  witnesses.  He  has  decided  to  be  a 
Christian  in  spite  of  everything.  He  is  a  man  of  some 
education,  reads  very  well,  and  preaches  fair.  He  has 
gifts  for  colportage  work.  He  is  under  my  direct  super- 
vision. If  you  will  supply  us  with  some  five-cash  por- 
tions of  Scripture  we  will  appreciate  it  very  much.  In 
this  way  the  man  will  be  a  double  blessing." 

157  Won  by  Bible  Distribution 

A  missionary  of  the  Swedish  Mission  at  Hoyang 
writes  that  during  the  year  157  persons  had  been 
baptized,  and,  rejoicing  in  the  voluntary  distributors 
of  the  Scriptures,  adds:  "How  we  should  do  without 
them  I  don't  understand,  and  how  they  would  do 


CHINA  145 

without  the  American  Bible  Society  passeth  my 
knowledge!  I  think  we  must  give  the  voluntary  dis- 
tributers  and  the  A.  B.  S.  the  credit  of  bringing  most 
of  these  157  to  Christ." 

EASTERN  SZECHUEN  SUB-AGENCY,  WEST  CHINA 

From  Western  China  we  take  the  following :  "  A  new 
method  of  evangelization  through  meetings  held  in  a 
large  tent  capable  of  seating  over  a  thousand  people, 
pitched  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Confucian  temple 
which  was  offered  by  the  gentry,  was  tried. 

Are  Chinese  Grateful? 

"We  had  a  book  stall  at  each  of  the  three  preach- 
ing halls.  Books  were  sold  at  the  large  central  tent, 
and  we  had  a  shop  on  the  busiest  portion  of  the  main 
street  devoted  exclusively  -to  the  sale  of  books.  The 
use  of  this  shop  was  given  by  its  owner,  a  cloth  mer- 
chant. He  removed  his  stock  of  cloth  to  an  inner 
courtyard  and  cleared  the  shop  entirely  for  our  use 
for  the  duration  of  the  meetings.  He  was  not  a 
Christian,  but  had  taken  refuge  at  the  Christian 
church  during  some  of  the  numerous  robber  attacks, 
and  this  was  the  voluntary  expression  of  his  gratitude. 

"I  personally  sold  200  Gospels  in  two  hours  in  an 
open  space  outside  a  city  to  passers-by,"  says  Mr. 
Hooker,  in  charge  of  the  Eastern  Szechuen  Sub-Agency. 

WESTERN  SZECHUEN  SUB-AGENCY,  WEST  CHINA 

The  Rev.  T.  Torrance,  now  on  a  well-earned  fur- 
lough, for  over  eight  years  in  charge  of  the  work  in 
Western  Szechuen,  mentions  that  during  this  time 
3,700  Bibles,  21,000  Testaments,  and  well  over  1,000,- 
000  Gospels  have  been  put  in  circulation.  He  speaks 
with  joy  of  his  fellow- workers,  some  of  whose  reports 
of  the  wonderful  influence  of  the  unaided  Scriptures 
have  been  already  quoted.  During  the  times  when 
funds   from   America   were   low,   local   friends   have 

10 


146 


CHINA 


(II    |\\r;    I'KOPLE,    TX    FAU   WESTERN    CIII\\ 

(See  October,  1919,  Record,  page '177.) 


risen  to  help,  contributing  $450.00,  amongst  them 
the  governor  of  Szechuen  giving  a  hundred  Bank  of 
China  notes.  The  missi<  >nary  bodies  also  have  passed 
resolutions  showing  their  deep  appreciation  of  the 
work  of  the  Bible  Society. 


Japan 

Acting  Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  Karl  E.  Aurell 
Bible  House,  Ginza  Street,  Tokyo,  Japan. 

Established  1876.  From  1890-1904,  Agency  jointly  maintained  by  the 
American  Bible  Society,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and 
the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland.  In  1904,  work  was  divided, 
the  northern  part  of  Japan  being  assigned  to  the  Agency  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  and  the  southern  portion  to  the  Agency  of  the 
British  Societies.  Circulation  in  1919,  102,131  volumes.  Aggregate 
circulation  through  American  Bible  Society  since  1876,  4,388,945 
volumes. 

Japan  sends  a  refreshing  report.  Its  incidents  of 
the  growth  and  fruits  of  Bible  circulation  are  not  only 
stimulating  in  themselves,  but  they  throw  light  on  a 
phase  of  Japanese  character  not  too  often  pictured  to 
Americans.  The  change  of  headquarters  from  Yoko- 
hama to  Tokyo,  effected  during  the  year,  bids  fair  to 
mark  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  the  Agency.  A  some- 
what detailed  account  of  it,  with  pictures  of  the 
new  headquarters  on  the  Ginza,  will  be  found  in  the 
Bible  Society  Record  of  February,  1920.  The  Acting 
Agency  Secretary,  reporting  a  circulation  of  6,806 
Bibles,  44,510  Testaments,  and  50,815  portions,  or  a 
total  of  102,131  copies  of  the  Scriptures — an  advance 
of  10,000  over  that  of  the  previous  year— makes  these 
introductory  remarks: 

An  Auspicious  Era 

"We  live  in  an  auspicious  era  of  the  Bible  cause  in 
Japan.  Despite  national  convulsions  and  disturbing 
influences  arising  from  various  causes,  there  is  no 
hindrance  to  the  operations  of  the  Bible  Society,  or 
check  upon  the  spread  of  God's  Book.  There  are 
only  two  causes  for  regret:  First,  the  difficulty  of 
securing  men  as  colporteurs  for  the  different  provinces. 
The  need  of  laborers  in  the  industrial  world  being 
great  and  the  monetary  inducements  offered  by  the 
same  being  extremely  attractive  in  these  days  of  high 
cost  of  living,  robs,  as  it  were,  Bible  work'of  good 
laborers.     And     again,     owing    to    labor    troubles, 


148  JAPAN 

printers  and  binders  have  been  unable  to  keep  us 
adequately  supplied  with  many  of  the  editions  of  the 
Bible  required. 

"The  increased  demand  for  vScriptures  from  all 
parts  of  our  field,  especially  Tokyo,  is  very  gratifying. 
During  the  last  two  months  of  the  year  practically 
every  c<  >i  >y  arriving  from  the  printer  never  reached  the 
shelves  of  the  Bible  House,  but  were  handed  directly 
to  a  waiting  customer,  or  immediately  packed  for 
transportation  to  some  distant  patron. 

"Tokyo  is  the  center  for  all  enterprises  of  impor- 
tance to  this  people.  Learning  that  headquarters  is 
in  the  capital,  and  located  on  a  famous  street  like 
Ginza,  gives  the  same  a  prestige  to  the  Japanese  mind 
everywhere  equal  to  nothing  else  that  might  be  done 
for  it.  We  thank  God  therefore  for  this  move,  being 
convinced  that  the  work  of  the  Agency  will  progress 
with  ever-increasing  advance  as  the  years  pass  by." 

From  this  Agency,  instead  of  briefly  mentioning 
the  many  illuminating  and  encouraging  incidents,  we 
will  quote  fully  the  accounts  of  three,  as  throwing 
most  cheering  light  on  the  power  of  God's  Word  and 
the  passing  on  of  the  torch  from  hand  to  hand: 

Fruit  of  a  5-Sen  Testament 

"Three  years  ago  Colporteur  Tanaami  sold  a  5-sen 
Testament  to  the  proprietor  of  a  woolen  goods  store 
in  Hongo  Ward,  of  Tokyo.  The  deal  having  been 
made,  Tanaami  took  the  Testament  and  read  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  Hebrews  to  the  man,  simply  add- 
ing: 'When  you  meet  with  failure,  turn  to  this  chap- 
ter for  help  and  strength,'  and  bid  him  good-bye. 
Some  time  after  that  this  man  actually  did  meet  with 
failure  in  his  business.  Recalling  what  our  colporteur 
had  said  when  that  Testament  was  bought,  he  im- 
mediately turned  to  and  read  the  passage  referred  to. 
The  hunger  in  his  heart  for  the  God  of  the  Bible  was 
kindled,  and  the  first  opportunity  that  presented  itself 


JAPAN  149 

he  attended  a  gospel  mission;  heard  and  accepted  the 
testimony  of  a  living  witness;  was  saved  and  became 
a  member  of  good  standing  of  the  church  near  by. 
Subsequent  to  the  marvelous  change  in  his  life  ma- 
terial blessings  also  were  showered  upon  him,  and  to 
the  amazement  of  many  he  regained  his  former  busi- 
ness. Salvation  from  sin  also  brought  new  strength 
to  his  frail  body.  Every  Wednesday  evening,  of  his 
own  accord,  he  goes  out  and  holds  open-air  meetings, 
in  which  he  testifies  of  what  Christ  has  done  for  him 
and  freely  gives  portions  to  those  who  become  in- 
terested. Moreover,  when  he  has  his  Special  Sales 
Day  in  December,  he  encloses  a  portion  in  every 
package  sent  out  of  the  store.  Truly  an  act  worthy 
of  imitation. 

A   Striking  Sequence 

' '  This  same  colporteur  sold  a  quantity  of  portions  to 
a  Christian  by  the  name  of  Shimohira,  in  Kan  da  Ward, 
who  used  them  for  free  distribution.  As  a  direct  re- 
sult a  man  called  Fukumoto,  receiving  a  copy,  became 
a  sincere  Christian.  Shortly  after  that  Fukumoto 's 
wife  became  sick.  Her  case  was  taken  to  the  Lord  in 
prayer,  and  she  was  healed.  This  experience  great- 
ly strengthened  his  faith,  and  in  order  to  give  some 
special  expression  of  his  gratitude  he  also  purchased 
a  quantity  of  portions  to  spread  in  a  like  manner  with 
the  man  from  whom  he  had  received  the  portion 
that  turned  his  face  Godward.  Of  the  more  than  a 
thousand  copies  he  spread,  one  copy  found  its  way 
to  a  man  in  Nara  Prefecture  (about  300  miles  away) . 
It  became  the  means  of  directly  leading  that  man  to 
Christ  and  indirectly  his  whole  household  of  fourteen 
members.  That  is  not  all.  It  is  reported  that  the 
power  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  introduced  by 
that  one  portion  has  inclined  the  manager  of  a  cer- 
tain  business  enterprise,  which  belongs  to  Fukumoto, 
to  believe  in  Christ  as   his   Saviour.     Furthermore, 


BIBLE    HOUSE.    GINZA,   TOK1  i 


JAPAN  151 

Mr.  Fukumoto  sent  400  perl  ions  to  a  country  school, 
of  which  he  had  been  principal  in  days  gone  by,  re- 
questing that  the  pupils  representing  practically  all 
homes  in  that  school  district  should  take  them  to 
their  parents.  In  that  way  he  reached  all  those  homes 
with  the  pure  story  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  Oh, 
what  may  the  harvest  be ! 

A  Pearl  Factory  and  a  Bible  Enthusiast 

"  Before  referring  to  instances  outside  of  Tokyo,  I 
desire  to  tell  of  the  power  of  God's  Word  in  a  pearl 
factory.  It  is  about  fourteen  years  since  this  factory 
was  established,  and  by  this  time  it  has  about  thirty 
efficient  artisans  and  seventy  apprentices.  The  com- 
pany claims  that  it  has  been  good  to  the  employees, 
not  neglecting  the  care  of  them  even  morally.  But 
in  March,  1919,  when  a  new  superintendent,  Mr.  Saito, 
took  charge,  a  new  era  was  inaugurated.  Being  a 
very  earnest  Christian,  he  at  once  introduced  Chris- 
tianity. In  his  estimation  that  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Mr.  Saito  being  a  man  of  one  book — a  Bible 
man — furnished  every  member  of  the  institution  with 
a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  result  has  been 
simply  wonderful.  In  December  one-third  of  the 
men  had  accepted  Christ  and  were  baptized.  By  this 
writing  (middle  of  February,  1920),  more  of  them  are 
being  baptized.  The  prospects  are  that  the  day  is 
very  near  when  all  those  employees  have  become 
Christians.  Beside  this  happy  result  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that  all  those  who  made  the  Bible  an  ever- 
present  friend,  have  become  40  per  cent,  more  effi- 
cient and  faithful  in  the  work. 

L"  Bible  Crazy" 

"  Mr.  Saito  says  that  he  does  not  go  around  among 
the  men  to  see  that  they  are  diligently  at  work,  etc., 
but  simply  to  inquire  how  they  are  getting  on  in 
their   new-found    faith.     If    there    is    anything    that 


152  JAPAN 

troubles  their  hearts,  he  instructs  and  advises  them 
on  the  basis  of  New  Testament  religion,  and  the  result 
is  most  gratifying.  Every  day's  work  is  begun  with 
Bible  reading  and  prayer.  Sunday  is  observed.  A 
church  has  been  organized.  Sunday  worship  is  regu- 
larly held.  'The  next  thing,'  said  Mr.  Saito,  'is  to 
gel  the  families  of  these  men  into  the  fold.'  Splendid 
efforts  have  been  begun  with  tin's  end  in  view.  Mr. 
Saito  also  said  that  he  was  what  many  people  might 
call  'Bible  crazy.'  In  younger  days  he  had  tried 
every  thing  under  the  sun  in  Japan,  but  newer  ob- 
tained what  he  hungered  for  until  the  Bible  fell  into 
his  hands.  'When  I  got  the  Bible,'  he  said,  'I  did 
not  let  go  of  it  for  days  and  days,  not  even  for  a  single 
moment.  I  went  into  the  mountain  to  be  entirely 
alone  in  order  to  read  and  reread  it.  I  took  it  to  bed 
with  me,  to  the  table,  to  my  work.  In  these  days 
when  people  are  face  to  face  with  labor  problems,  etc., 
not  knowing  what  to  do,  I  tell  them  there  is  no  solution 
to  it  all  outside  of  what  the  New  Testament  teaches. 
I  know  it  is  effectual,  for  I  have  tried  it  out  in  my 
factory.  There  is  no  use  discussing  the  difficulties, 
but  take  God's  Word,  live  it,  and  practically  pour  it 
into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people.'" 

Conclusion 

Truly  we  may  say  with  the  old  Christian  who.  in  an 
out-of-the-way  village,  recently  found  Scriptures  in 
all  the  houses  of  his  village,  as  a  result  of  a  colpor- 
teur's work:  "You  are  engaged  in  a  very  hard  work, 
but  in  my  estimation  it  is  a  great  work."  And  well 
may  we  follow  his  example  as  he  says,  "I  am  pray- 
ing daily  that  you  may  succeed  in  reaching  every 
home  of  this  prefecture." 


Korea 

Last  Agency  Secretary,  Rev.  S.  A.  Beck 

Circulation    in    L919,  42,922    volumes.     Aggregate   circulation   since    L907, 

2,422,665  volumes. 

From  1882  when  the  American  Bible  Society  first 
begun  its  work  in  Korea,  until  January  1,  1904,  the 
work  was  directed  from  the  Japan  Agency.  During 
the  four  years,  1904-1907,  it  was  conducted  under 
an  arrangement  of  a  joint  Agency  with  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  National  Bible 
Society  of  Scotland.  From  January  1,  1908,  to  the 
early  months  of  1919,  the  joint  Agency  gave  place  to 
an  independent  Agency,  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Beck  being 
last  in  charge  of  the  American  Bible  Society's  work. 
This  year,  as  already  announced,  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  have  taken  entire  charge  of  the 
work  in  Korea,  themselves  withdrawing  from  the 
Philippines,  which  has  passed  under  the  charge  of 
the  American  Bible  Society. 

The  Last  Months 

Mr.  Beck  writes  with  deep  feeling  of  the  closing 
months  of  his  experience  and  service  in  Korea  be- 
cause of  the  political  events  and  hardships  of  the 
Koreans  whom  he  had  learned  to  love.  While  later 
developments  give  rays  of  hope  for  the  future,  as  a 
record  of  the  year  quotations  are  made  from  the 
report  as  given  by  Air.  Beck: 

The  Emperor's  Sudden  Death 

"It  may  be  best  here  to  recall  some  other  impor- 
tant events  taking  place  in  Korea.  Since  1906  the 
Korean  Emperor  had  been  a  prisoner  in  his  own 
palace,  and  for  about  twelve  years  his  youngest  son 
had  been  in  training  in  Japan,  with  permission  to 
return  to  Korea  but  once  during  that  time,  and  was 
now  to  be  married  on  the  25th  of  January,  1919,  to 


154  KOREA 

a  Japanese  princess.  It  is  reported  that  the  ex- 
Emperor  was  greatly  opposed  to  this  union,  and  that 
he  was  also  endeavoring  to  communicate  with  the 
Peace  Conference  at  Paris.  On  the  20th  of  January, 
five  days  before  the  date  for  the  wedding  in  Japan, 
(lie  Emperor  of  Korea  was  found  dead,  when  lie  was 
known  to  have  been  in  his  usual  good  health  two 
hours  prior  to  the  announcement  of  his  death. 

"Immediately  there  were  reports  of  foul  play. 
Some  said  the  Japanese  were  responsible,  because  they 
could  not  secure  the  signature  of  the  Emperor  to  a 
paper  to  be  sent  to  Paris,  stating  that  all  was  well 
in  Korea  under  the  Japanese  regime;  others  said  the 
Emperor  had  killed  himself  as  a  protest  against  the 
forced  marriage  of  his  son  to  a  Japanese;  and  still 
others  said  this  was  the  supreme  act  of  sacrifice  on 
the  part  of  the  Emperor  in  behalf  of  his  people  and 
his  country,  and  that  he  proved  his  love  and  devotion 
by  giving  his  life.  The  official  announcement  was 
that  a  clot  of  blood  had  formed  on  the  brain.' ' 

Secret  Unrest 

Without  entering  fully  into  the  completer  details 
presented  by  Mr.  Beck,  let  it  be  said  briefly  that  the 
country  was  in  a  great  state  of  secret  unrest.  The 
Japanese  police  made  it  their  business  to  follow  col- 
p<  irteurs  from  house  to  house,  questioning  the  inmates 
as  to  why  they  purchased  the  Scriptures,  and  making 
it  very  plain  that  they  would  have  a  better  chance 
with  the  authorities  if  they  did  not  purchase  Scrip- 
tures. 

"Mansei" 

Two  days  before'  the  date  fixed  for  the  funeral  of 
the  ex-Emperor,  March  3rd,  nearly  forty  days  after 
the  announcement  of  his  death,  there  was  a  demon- 
st  rat  ion  of  "the  passive  resistance"  order  in  which 
a  crowd,  gathered  at  Pagoda  Park,  shouted  "  Mansei," 


KOREA  155 

the  equivalent  of j" Hurrah  for  Korea."  Tin's  was  the 
signal  for  vigorous  and  rather  cruel  ad  ion  on  the 
part  of  the  Japanese  authorities,  which  culminated 
in  further  disturbances. 

March  5th 

"The  next  noteworthy  demonstration  in  Seoul  oc- 
curred the  morning  of  the  5th,  at  which  time  I  wit- 
nessed the  arrest  of  many,  including  women,  and  saw 
unarmed  Koreans  unmercifully  beaten  with  clubs, 
cut  with  swords  in  the  hands  of  the  police  and  gen- 
darmes, and  also  saw  many  Japanese  civilians  rush 
in,  sometimes  as  many  as  ten  Japanese  attacking  one 
defenceless  Korean,  beating,  kicking,  and  browbeat- 
ing, with  total  disregard  of  sex,  guilt,  or  innocence. 

Pitiful   Beyond  Description 

"I  personally  visited  four  villages  which  had  been 
burned  by  the  "Japanese  authorities,  and  in  two  of  the 
villages  there  had  been  churches,  which  were  con- 
sumed by  the  flames.  At  one  place  the  men  had 
been  called  to  the  church  in  the  afternoon,  and  all 
were  killed  in  the  church  either  by  bullets  or  bayo- 
nets, and  then  the  church  was  burned  with  these 
dead  bodies  in  it.  The  whole  scene  was  pitiful  be- 
yong  description." 

Conclusion 

Mr.  Beck,  having  turned  over  all  the  work  and 
property  of  the  American  Bible  Society  to  Mr. 
Miller,  the  representative  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  finally  left  for  America,  where  he 
landed  on  the  21st  of  May.  He  has  since  resigned 
from  the  service  of  the  Society. 


Philippines 

Agency  Secretary:  Rev.  \.  L.  McLaughlin 
Box  755,  Manila,  P.  I. 

Established  1899.  Field:  The  whole  archipelago  of  about  3,000  islands. 
Circulation  in  L919,  77,259  volumes.  Aggregate  circulation  since 
1899,  1,713,002  volume  i. 

Progress  and  co-operation  have  been  characteristics 
of  the  year.  This  has  been  so  despite  the  handicap 
of  delayed  stock  and  active  opposition,  this  latter 
being  from  Roman  Catholic  influences.  The  or- 
ganized activity  of  church  members  in  intensive  cam- 
paigns for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  continues 
to  be  fruitful.  From  his  long  and  wide  acquaintance 
with  the  conditions  in  the  Islands,  Mr.  McLaughlin 
draws  a  contrast  between  the  past  and  present, 
which  shows  a  marked  improvement  in  moral,  in- 
tellectual, and  spiritual  conditions,  and  which  gives 
good  promise  for  the  future. 

General  Facts 

The  circulation  of  3,960  Bibles,  8,700  Testaments, 
and  64,599  portions  made  a  total  of  77,259  volumes, 
which  is  still  below  the  average  of  pre-war  years. 
"Owing  to  lack  of  supplies,  most  of  our  sellers  had 
been  compelled  to  cease  work  and  to  seek  employ- 
ment elsewhere."  Unusual  conditions  also  ham- 
pered the  work.  The  mobilization  of  the  National 
Guard  caused  a  scarcity  of  supplies,  of  labor,  and  of 
shipping  facilities  for  transportation.  "Owing  to  an 
unusual  drought  followed  by  an  almost  unprecedented 
rainfall,  in  which  some  110  inches  of  water  came  down 
in  one  month,  the  crops  were  materially  shortened  and 
a  famine  almost  ensued,  but  was  averted  by  prompt  and 
strenuous  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  government." 

Filipinization 

"The  Filipinization  of  the  public  service  goes  on 
apace.     Wherever  it  is  possible,   American   govern- 


PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS 


157 


BIBLE    HOUSE,   MANILA 

Purchased  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

ment  employees  are  being  supplanted  by  Filipinos, 
and  many  of  these  are  making  excellent  records  in 
their  chosen  departments."  The  fact  that  these 
young  men  have  been  educated  largely  in  the  Philip- 
pine University  or  in  the  United  States,  and  other 
causes,  have  led  to  a  re-action  more  favorable  to 
American  mentors  and  American  influence.  One  of 
the  young  members  of  the  Assembly  recently  insisted 
on  addressing  it  in  the  English  language,  and  the  ob- 
jection to  the  teaching  of  English  in  the  schools  is 
not  so  virulent.  More  American  teachers  are  being 
employed. 

The  Exchange  of  Fields 

The  exchange  of  fields  in  Korea  and  the  Philip- 
pines has  been  effected,  and  the  American  Bible 
Society  is  now   the   only   Bible  Society   responsible 


158  PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS 

for  work  in  this  large  archipelago.  The  American 
Bible  Society  purchased  the  Bible  House  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  situated  in  the 
educational  section  of  Manila. 

Two  Decades  of  Protestantism 

vs. 
Two    Centuries  of  Romanism 

The  unification  of  Scripture  distribution  under  the 
charge  of  one  Bible  Society  is  found  to  work  for  effi- 
ciency and  harmony.  In  the  earlier  years  there 
seemed  to  have  been  sufficient  work  for  two  So- 
cieties, especially  in  connection  with  the  great  task 
of  translation  and  publication  of  the  Scriptures  in 
the  principal  dialects,  and  the  covering  of  the  large, 
untouched  field.  For,  be  it  remembered  that  not 
until  the  United  States  took  control  from  Spain, 
was  the  Bible  translated  into  a  single  Filipino  lan- 
guage. During  its  centuries  in  the  Philippines  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  had  kept  the  Bible  from 
the  people.  But  now  that  the  bulk  of  the  trans- 
lation work  is  completed  and  the  first  sowing 
has  been  made  pretty  well  throughout  the  Islands, 
one  Society  can  perhaps  best  meet  present  con- 
ditions. 

Translation  and  Revision 

Translation  work  has  been  going  forward  in  the 
Samareno  dialect,  but  in  the  main  there  seems  to  be 
less  need  of  pushing  translation.  The  children  are 
learning  English,  and  the  need  of  translations  into 
minor  dialects  which  have  not  yet  had  the  Scrip- 
tures seems  to  decrease,  with  the  increasing  proba- 
bility of  their  disappearance.  But  there  is  room  and 
need  for  revision,  although  the  Societies  and  mission- 
ary translators  have  the  honor  of  having  produced 
the  best  literature  in  the  various  languages  and 
dialects. 


PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS  159 

An  Official  Tribute 

Mr.  McLaughlin  says  that  only  a  few  days  before 
he  wrote,  he  heard  the  "Assistant  Director  of  Educa- 
tion, at  a  great  mass-meeting,  recommend  as  a  pa- 
triotic measure  the  veneration  of  their  own  traditions, 
customs,  languages,  etc.;  and  he  recommended  the 
Bible  in  its  different  translations  as  the  very  best 
preservation  of  their  native  tongues,  the  purest  and 
the  most  perfect  of  anything  in  print.  When  we 
consider  the  haste  with  which  these  translations  were 
made  by  men  as  yet  scarcely  acquainted  with  the 
native  tongue,  we  marvel  at  the  results.  So  from  a 
literary  and  historical  standpoint,  there  is  an  ever- 
increasing  call  for  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  the  stu- 
dents." 

"The  Station  Man" 

Turning  to  the  work  of  distribution,  mention  is 
made,  first,  of  the  "station  man"  at  the  Central 
Railway  Station  in  Manila,  who  is,  by  the  authorities, 
accorded  the  privilege  of  entering  all  platforms  and 
coaches,  where  many  persons,  who  have  never  before 
seen  a  copy  of  the  Word,  are  given  opportunity  to 
take  one  of  the  little  volumes  of  Scripture  as  a  trip 
companion.  "Only  last  week  a  pastor  in  a  town  150 
miles  distant  told  me  of  an  intelligent  fellow-towns- 
man who  came  into  his  services  for  the  first  time. 
His  interest  had  been  aroused  by  reading  on  his  home- 
ward journey  the  Gospel  of  John,  which  he  had  secured 
from  the  Bible  man  in  the  Manila  Railway  Station." 

"Anything   but  Spectacular" 

"So  I  might  go  through  the  list — Candido  Bundang 
among  the  students  in  the  university  town  of  Los 
Bafios;  Felix  Nicolas,  Pablo  Baladad,  Pio  Fajardo, 
and  the  rest.  Their  stories  are  the  same.  Some  of 
them  anything  but  spectacular,  being  stories  of  faith- 
ful and  untiring  services  rendered.     Stories  of  hot 


160  PHILIPPINE     ISLANDS 

days  and  dusty  roads,  of  floods  and  hardships  by 
day  and  by  night.  One  of  these  men  was  for  nearly 
two  months  in  a  town  where  the  streets  were  nearly 
all  under  water,  some  to  a  depth  of  from  four  to  five 
feet.  For  days  he  visited  the  market,  going  in  a  row 
boat  or  removing  his  shoes  and  wading,  carrying  his 
stock  of  Scriptures  on  his  head.  Truly,  when  I  see 
what  these  men  endure  in  the  way  of  hardships,  I  am 
ofttimes  pul  to  shame,  for  I  feel  that  in  the  total 
we  bear  by  far  the  easier  part." 

Volunteer   House-to-house  Canvasses 

Much  stress  has  been  laid  on,  and  much  success 
has  resulted  from,  the  stimulation  of  church  mem- 
bers to  the  conducting  of  definite  campaigns  of  Scrip- 
ture circulation.  "Where  there  are  organized  churches 
we  have  been  able  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  these 
volunteer  workers;  and  they  have  put  on  a  house- 
to-house  canvass,  selling  Scriptures  wherever  possible 
and,  where  no  sale  could  be  effected,  making  a  present 
of  one  penny  Gospel,  usually  the  Gospel  of  John,  or 
Mark.  This  has  opened  the  way  into  hundreds  of 
homes  and  paved  the  way  for  sales  of  Testaments  and 
complete  Bibles.  Even  with  these  more  liberal  dis- 
counts, the  entire  cost  of  circulation  has  been  less  than 
when  done  by  the  salaried  colporteur,  and  the  moral 
value  has  been  infinitely  better  as  the  public  recog- 
nize them  as  doing  the  work  for  the  love  of  it  as  over 
against  the  commercial  services  of  a  professional  seller. 

But  Salaried  Colporteurs  Still  Needed 

"But  this  class  of  work  is  adapted  only  to  those 
localities  where  there  are  well-organized  churches;  our 
paid  men  must  stand  responsible  for,  and  visit,  the 
'regions  beyond,'  and,  despite  these  years  of  energetic 
missionary  activities,  there  are  still  many  of  these 
places  beyond  the  reach  of  the  influence  of  the  work- 
ers or  their  helpers.     The  Bible  Society  colporteur  is 


PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS  161 

the  only  gospel  agent  these  multitudes  have  ever  yet 
seen,  or  will  be  able  to  see  for  some  time  to  come." 

Roman  Church  Attitude 

"From  all  directions  come  in  reports  of  more  in- 
tense opposition  on  the  part  of  the  priests  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  Sinait,  Ilocos  Norte, 
recently  there  was  a  'Bible  burning,'  which  created 
some  considerable  excitement.  It  followed  a  'Bible 
revival '  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  Christian 
mission  in  that  place.  A  few  days  after  the  books 
had  been  distributed,  the  local  Roman  clergy  offered 
in  exchange  some  pictures  and  the  so-gathered-up 
Bible  portions  were  destroyed. 

"Parochial  schools  are  being  established  through- 
out the  Island,  and  apparently  a  concerted  attempt  is 
being  launched  to  undermine  the  solidarity  of  the 
public  school  system.  As  yet  but  little  impression  has 
been  made  upon  that  institution,  but  it  shows  the 
plans  that  are  already  well  and  carefully  laid.  The 
most  pronounced  application  of  this  open  hostility  is 
manifested  in  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon 
almost  every  young  man  and  woman  to  withhold 
themselves  from  the  influence  of  Evangelical  teach- 
ings of  whatever  form. 

Opposition  Helps 

"All  this  propaganda  and  opposition  scarcely 
hurts,  rather  it  helps  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures; 
for,  while  it  does  frighten  off  many  from  openly 
countenancing  personal  religion  and  the  open  Bible, 
nevertheless  the  very  same  agitation  incites  many  to 
want  to  see  and  know  this  proscribed  Book,  even  if  it 
has  to  be  done  secretly  and  covertly." 

Bible  Study 

Bible  study  is,   happily,   on  the  increase  through 
various  influences.     The  students  in  the  public  schools 
11 


162  PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS 

and  higher  institutions  of  learning  turn  to  the  Bible 
as  the  highest  standard  of  excellent  English,  and  also 
recognize  that  the  translations  of  the  Scriptures  are 
the  best  obtainable  matter  in  their  own  languages 
and  dialects.  At  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Student  Con- 
ference, more  than  150  young  men  were  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  Islands  for  five  days,  devoting 
their  attention  to  the  careful  study  of  the  Bible  and 
its  application  to  the  problems  of  Filipino  life.  These 
men  go  back  to  their  homes,  carrying  the  message 
of  inspiration  and  helping  to  interest  others  in  the 
Scriptures. 

A  city-wide  Bible-study  campaign  is  already 
planned  for  the  city  of  Manila,  when  for  six  weeks 
it  is  hoped  and  expected  that  a  large  number  of 
the  students  will  devote  careful  study  to  this 
Book  of  books  as  covering  some  special  phase  of 
their  lives. 

A  Secretary's  Doings 

An  excerpt  illustrating  the  activities  and  experi- 
ences of  the  Secretary,  and  at  the  same  time  showing 
what  developments  have  been  taking  place,  must  close 
this  report : 

"On  this  last  trip  I  visited  eight  mission  stations: 
three  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  one  of  the 
United  Brethren,  two  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  Mis- 
sion, and  two  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal.  This  en- 
tailed traveling  some  600  kilometers  by  train,  350  by 
automobile,  250  by  auto-truck,  400  by  motorcycle, 
150  on  horseback,  and  walking  300.  A  part  of  the 
time  I  traveled  alongside  the  rippling  swells  of  the 
open  sea,  practically  on  sea  level,  and  a  part  of  the 
time  I  was  over  8,000  feet  above  sea  level.  A  part 
of  the  time  sweltering  in  the  heat  of  the  lowlands  and 
a  part  of  the  time  shivering  under  live  blankets,  try- 
ing to  sleep  but  could  n<  »t  f<  >r  t  he  cold.  It  was  a  most 
interesting  trip. 


PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS  163 

Growth  all  along  the  Line 
"However,  the  physical  conditions  and  experiences 
soon  fade  away  into  forgetfulness,  but  the  impressions 
of  the  growth  and  advancement  of  the  churches  and 
the  stability  of  the  work  all  along  the  line  will  long 
remain.  I  was  most  favorably  impressed  by  what  I 
saw  among  the  churches.  A  dozen  years  ago  I  was 
held  up  in  the  town  of  Bangar,  La  Union,  by  bad 
roads  and  to  rest  our  carabao,  as  I  was  in  the  very 
midst  of  a  journey  along  that  coast  line  which  took 
seven  days  of  arduous  travel.  Then  I  could  find  no 
place  to  rest,  no  friends  nor  acquaintances,  no  one 
who  could  understand,  much  less  talk,  English.  Now 
what  a  difference !  In  place  of  the  old  mud  and  stone 
road  with  no  bridges,  now  there  is  as  fine  an  auto 
road  as  is  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world;  and 
instead  of  that  seven  days'  journey,  one  can  now  spin 
over  the  entire  coast  line  road  in  five  or  six  hours. 
In  this  town  of  Bangar  there  are  now  comfortable 
and  pleasant  hotels  and  congenial  companions.  But 
here  I  found  a  Sunday-school  convention  in  full  swing, 
and  was  most  delightfully  received  and  entertained. 
The  programme  was  engineered  by  the  Filipino  mem- 
bers and  would  have  done  credit  to  any  church  any- 
where. The  young  people  were  talking  English,  and 
I  could  scarcely  believe  that  this  was  the  same  place 
where  I  had  such  unpleasant  experiences  so  few  years 
ago.  At  Candon  I  attended  another  Sunday-school 
convention,  even  larger  in  numbers  and  equally  as 
enthusiastic  and  well  directed.  At  all  these  points 
it  was  my  earnest  endeavor,  and,  I  think,  with  some 
little  degree  of  success,  to  encourage  and  inspire  the 
local  membership  of  the  churches  to  assume  the 
obligation  and  privilege  of  sowing  down  their  home 
towns  with  the  printed  Word. 


Beyond  the  Limits  of  the  Agencies 

EUROPE 

None  will  be  surprised  that  we  can  still  record  no 
work  in  several  European  countries  where  we  have  had 
correspondents  in  the  past.  The  reasons  are  obvious. 
( )nly  the  countries  and  correspondents  hereafter  men- 
tioned have  been  heard  from.  But  from  some  of 
these,  reports  of  earlier  years  are  now  coming. 

Sweden,  Belgium,  Germany 

From  Sweden  only  a  brief  statistical  report  has  been 
received,  with  no  details.  The  Belgian  Bible  Society 
reports  resumption  of  activity  during  1919  and  a 
circulation  of  28,664  volumes,  of  which  2,425  were 
distributed  to  soldiers,  many  wounded.  From  Ger- 
many comes  a  plea  for  renewed  assistance,  from  our 
foreign  correspondent,  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Burkhardt. 
For  two  and  a  half  years  no  appropriation  had  been 
made  and  no  work  could  be  done. 

Czechoslovakia 

The  first  real  report  to  be  presented  is  from  Czecho- 
slovakia, a  caption  appearing  for  tin-  first  time  in  the 
Story.  The  work,  however,  is  the  same  which  has 
been  previously  recorded  under  the  name  of  Austria, 
and  is  being  resumed  by  our  same  correspondent,  the 
Rev.  J.  S.  Porter. 

Writing  in  January,  1920,  Mr.  Porter  slated  thai 
he  had  returned  to  Prague  on  June  15,  1919,  after 
two  years'  a.bsence  in  America:  that  communication 
with  Vienna  was  very  difficult;  that  stocks  of  Scrip- 
tures in  Prague  had  been  exhausted;  and  that  while 
there  was  some  at  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society's  depository  in  Vienna,  money  stringency  was 
so  great  that  one  was  allowed  to  take  only  the  equiva- 
lent of  $20  when  going  from  Prague  to  Vienna,  and 


EUROPE 


THE    SHATTERED    AND    FALLEN    MONUMENT 

erected  on  the  old  historic  public  square  in  Prague  to  celebrate  the  triumph  of 
Austria  and  the  Jesuits  over  Bohemia  and  the  Protestants  in  1621.  This  monu- 
ment had  stood  for  nearly  300  years.  Soon  after  the  return  of  Bohemian  inde- 
pendence, in  October,  1918,  a  crowd  demolished  the  monument.  Now  the  new 
Huss  Monument  alone  adorns  this  square." 


as  the  journey  cost  nearly  that  sum,  it  was  very  diffi- 
cult to  purchase  a  supply  of  Scriptures.  He  con- 
tinues : 

A  Freedom  Unknown  Before 

"And  yet  there  is  a  real  joy  in  working  here,  such 
as  we  did  not  have  in  the  old  days  of  Austrian  mis- 
rule. There  is  a  longing  for  the  truth,  and  a  freedom 
in  selling  the  Scriptures  unknown  before.  We  are 
hoping  for  the  same  freedom  in  selling  the  Scriptures 
that  obtains  in  America.  And  while  we  have  not 
such  a  law  as  yet,  there  is  no  apparent  hindrance  to 
the  sale  and  distribution  of  the  Word  of  God  any- 
where in  the  republic. 

"We  have  services  on  the  public  squares  of  our 


166  EUROPE 

cities  and  villages,  and  afterwards  give  away  tracts, 
sell  Bibles,  and  other  literature,  in  a  way  undreamed 
of  in  the  old  days.     Surely  it  is  good  to  be  here. 

Scriptures  Save  from  Suicide 

"I  know  that  many  have  been  helped  and  en- 
couraged to  look  away  from  themselves  to  Christ, 
by  the  services  of  our  devoted  workers.  I  heard  of 
one  nurse  who  was  longing  for  death,  and  tended 
gypsies  afflicted  with  the  virulent  black  smallpox, 
hoping  to  take  the  disease  and  die.  She  was,  how- 
ever, led  to  read  the  Scriptures;  and  last  Sunday  I 
had  the  great  privilege  of  telling  her  the  good  news. 
She  goes  often  to  our  Christian  people  for  help  and 
comfort." 

Conclusion 

An  urgent  appeal  is  made  for  Bibles  on  thin  paper, 
such  as  had  been  available  before  the  war.  Now  only 
thick  Bibles,  with  small  print,  or  large,  heavy  Bibles, 
are  available;  none  suitable  for  pocket  use.  "And 
our  Christians  believe  in  carrying  their  Bibles  with 
them  to  all  church  services  and  elsewhere.  We  are 
so  thankful  for  what  we  now  have,  but  we  need  so 
much  some  handy  Bibles  for  use  on  our  journeys  and 
in  church  and  Sunday-school  services." 

Switzerland 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  Ernest  Grob  record  comes 
of  the  circulation  of  2,630  volumes,  through  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission. 

Bibles  and  Testaments  in  Demand 

"Never  the  applications  for  Bibles  and  New  Testa- 
ments have  been  so  numerous  as  this  year.  Many 
people  who  up  to  now  cared  very  little  for  the  Holy 
Scriptures  are  now  seeking  for  the  Book  of  Life. 
Only  the  other  day  a  gentleman  and  his  wife  came 


EUROPE  167 

to  my  house  and  wanted  a  Bible.  He  said:  'I  have 
now  been  married  for  a  certain  time,  and  we  have 
lived  without  God  and  his  Word.  I  feel  we  must 
have  the  Bible  in  our  home,  for  without  it,  it  looks 
so  empty.'  That  gave  me  an  occasion  to  speak  to 
the  gentleman  about  religious  matter,  and  since  then 
he  and  his  wife  are  regular  attendants  at  our  church 
meetings.  Letters  from  our  pastors  state  that  there 
is  a  strong  application  for  the  Holy  Scriptures  among 
the  young  people,  and  surely,  when  our  young  folks 
begin  to  care  for  the  Bible  the  next  generation  will 
be  better  than  this  one." 

Another  correspondent  in  Switzerland  is  the  Evan- 
gelical Society  of  Geneva.  We  shared  in  their  cir- 
culation in  proportion  to  our  contributions.  From 
their  report,  the  following  is  taken: 

Belgian  Refugees  in  Holland 

"  The  activity  of  the  Evangelical  Society  during  the 
war  has  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  public 
many  times,  and  the  sympathy  with  which  it  was 
received  was  very  encouraging.  A  complete  account 
has  been  rendered  of  the  work  accomplished  among 
the  30,000  Belgian  refugees  during  the  five  years 
Holland  sheltered  them.  The  Evangelical  Society 
delegated  there,  by  turns,  four  pastors,  who  sustained 
the  faith  of  the  exiles,  shared  their  sad  existence, 
and  showed  to  many  the  way  of  salvation.  Special 
attention  was  paid  to  the  great  camps  of  Zeist  and 
Harderwyck,  and  also  to  certain  villages  occupied  by 
the  Belgians.  Many  testimonies  of  the  good  work  of 
these  pastors  have  been  given:  'Ah!  if  our  Belgium 
only  knew  the  gospel,'  said  one,  'what  a  beautiful 
country  it  would  be!  When  I  get  back  to  my  home 
my  whole  family  must  be  brought  in  contact  with  the 
Word  of  God.'  A  dying  man  said,  'Nothing  else 
matters,  now  that  I  am  going  away,  except  that  I 
know  the  Saviour.' 


168 


EUROPE 


The   Interned  in  Switzerland 

"Our  Society  undertook  also  a  work  of  evangeliza- 
tion among  the  French  and  Belgian  soldiers  interned 
in  central  Switzerland.  A  chaplain  sent  there  by  the 
Society  presided  at  a  large  number  of  religious  serv- 
ices, held  conferences,  and  made  visits;  he  gave  out 
very  many  Scriptures  and  other  religious  publications 
at  Interlaken,  Meiringen,  Grindelwald,  etc. 

2,000,000  Gospels  in  France 

'  'The  distribution  of  Scriptures  and  tracts  to  the 
soldiers  in  France  was  continued  last  year  as  during 
the  first  years  of  the  war.  Almost  2,000,000  Gospels 
have  been  given  out  to  the  soldiers  in  camps,  barracks, 
and  hospitals.  Similar  work  has  been  carried  on 
among  the  natives  of  Madagascar  stationed  in  the 
south  of  France,  and  some  of  these  have  been  bap- 
tized by  one  of  our  pastors. 

Returning  Refugees  in  the  North 

"The  general  work  of  colportage,  which  was  inter- 
rupted in  the  invaded  sections  of  the  north,  has  been 
taken  up  again  in  the  desolate  regions  where  the 
populations  are  commencing  to  return  to  set  up  their 
homes  again.  These  afflicted  people,  numerous  in 
the  north  as  everywhere,  receive  the  colporteurs 
kindly  and  confide  to  them  their  sorrows.  Of 
the  New  Testament,  particularly,  a  great  many 
have  been  sold.  Many  of  the  refugees  returning 
from  Switzerland  are  particularly  happy  to  be  able 
to  procure  the  Gospels,  of  which  they  now  have 
knowledge,  in  the  country  that  they  love.  One  col- 
porteur from  the  north,  who  was  put  in  prison  by 
the  Germans  for  having  presided  over  a  group  of 
worshipers,  gives  testimony  of  the  good  he  was  able 
to  do  to  his  fellow-prisoners  to  whom  he  sold  the 
sacred  books. 


ici'Roi'i-: 


W) 


Algeria  Also 

"In  Algeria,  also,  the  work  of  the  colporteurs  has 
been  blessed,  both  among  the  French  soldiers  and 
among  prisoners.  One  woman  testifies  as  follows: 
lI  said  I  would  never  again  pray  to  God,  but  I  know 
now  it  is  better  to  return  and  bow  down  before  him.' 
Another  declared  that  she  wanted  to  embrace  the 
religion  of  President  Wilson,  whose  portraits  have 
been  sold  with  great  success.  A  soldier  wrote:  'To 
me  you  have  been  a  guardian  angel.  I  read  every 
day  a  portion  of  the  Bible,  and  I  put  my  confidence 
in  God;  if  God  preserves  me,  after  the  war  I  shall 
consecrate  myself  to  his  service.'" 

France 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ernest  Bertrand,  the  devoted  and 
active  director  of  the  Bible  Society  of  France,  re- 
ports that  with  the  donations  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  1,532  Bibles,  2,848  New  Testaments,  and 
2,866  portions — a  total  of  7,246  volumes — were  dis- 
tributed, which  had  "a  great  success  among  not  only 
Protestants,  but  among  Roman  Catholics." 

In  an  address  made  at  the  Centenary  of  the  Prot- 
estant Bible  Society  of  Paris,  Dr.  Bertrand  stated 
that  the  Bible  Society  of  France  had  given  out  nearly 
150,000  volumes  of  Scriptures  among  French  and 
Belgian  soldiers,  and  the  colonial  troops  from  Africa, 
Asia,  and  Oceania.  Among  letters  and  testimonies 
he  presents  are  these: 

"An  underofficer  of  artillery  wrote  us:  'I  cannot 
thank  you  too  much  for  the  privilege  of  spending 
some  hours  each  day  with  the  Bible,  and  the  change 
it  made  in  my  life,  for  such  moments  of  moral  soli- 
tude and  reading  brighten  the  dull  monotony  of  the 
life  of  a  soldier.'  A  mobilized  pastor,  Air.  Jalaguier. 
sent  us  the  following  extracts  from  letters  he  received 
from  the  front  from  'poilus'  to  whom  he  had  sent 


170  EUROPE 

copies  of  the  Scriptures:  'I  always  carry  my  New 
Testament  with  me,'  said  one,  'and  it  is  a  great  help 
to  me,  especially  at  this  time  when  I  am  assailed  by 
temptation.  1  can  say  that  it  often  prevents  my 
becoming  discouraged  and  inclined  to  evil  deeds. 
What  is  there  of  more  good  than  this  Book?  There 
is  no  oilier  testament  that  survives  like  the  Testa- 
ment of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  'This  is  the  only 
book  that  revives  and  solaces  mc;  for,  since  three 
years  ago,  I  am  isolated  here,  with  no  letter  from 
my  mother — not  even  a  word!' 

"Listen  to  these  terms  in  which  a  Belgian  soldier 
S]  >eaks  of  the  Bible  we  sent  him :  '  An  accident  has  hap- 
pened to  my  beloved  Bible.  I  left  it  on  my  night-table 
and  when  I  came  back  to  get  it  it  had  disappeared. 
It  is  very  unfortunate;  but  it  must  have  been  of 
interest  to  him  who  took  it,  is  it  not  so?  If  you  could 
send  me  another  to  replace  it,  it  would  give  me  much 
pleasure;  for  I  would  sooner  go  without  butter  on 
my  bread  in  order  to  be  able  to  obtain  another!' 

"Very  many  of  the  combatants  found  that  such  a 
volume  was  too  bulky  or  heavy  and  asked  us  to  place 
at  their  disposal  portions  of  Scripture  in  as  compact 
a  form  as  possible.  It  was  to  respond  to  these  re- 
quests that  the  Bible  Society  of  France  decided  two 
years  ago  to  publish  20,000  copies  of  a  collection  in 
suitable  form,  entitled  'The  Gospel  for  the  French 
Soldier,'  containing  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  with  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  twenty  Psalms,  and  a 
liturgy  for  funeral  services  of  soldiers  who  had  died 
for  the  Fatherland.  (Note:  Printed  with  the  gifts 
of  the  American  Bible  Society.)  Also  20,000  others, 
containing  the  Gospel  of  John,  were  printed.  These 
two  editions  have  been  completely  exhausted.  The 
'Gospel  for  the  French  Soldier'  was  a  very  attrac- 
tive little  volume,  light  and  portable,  the  cover  of 
which  was  adorned  with  the  picture  of  a  'poilu'  read- 
ng  his  Gospel  in  the  trenches." 


EUROPE  171 

Italy 

In  Italy,  as  in  Switzerland,  two  1  todies  received 
contributions  and  make  report  to  our  Society. 

In  behalf  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference, 
report  is  made  by  Dr.  Bertrand  M.  Tipple  of  the  cir- 
culation of  475  Bibles,  275  Testaments,  and  1,100 
p< irtions.     He  adds: 

Who  and  Where 

"In  addition  to  the  mere  statistics,  let  me  add  a 
bit  of  story  of  the  Bible  work.  The  two  who  have 
been  distributing  are  Giuseppe  La  Scala,  our  pastor 
at  Reggio,  Calabria,  and  one  of  the  Methodist  chap- 
lains in  the  Italian  army  during  the  war,  and  Mrs. 
Luisa  Schiavi,  an  evangelical  school  teacher  at 
Montaldo  Scarampi,  Province  of  Allesandria. 

"Mrs.  Schiavi,  besides  working  in  Montaldo  and 
its  immediate  environs,  went  during  vacations  and 
over  week-ends  to  the  towns  of  Montegrosso  d'Asti, 
Mombercelli,  and  Agliano,  and  through  the  country 
districts  around  them. 

First  Stoned ;   Then  Received 

"Sig.  La  Scala  visited  Taormina,  Brancaleone, 
Mandancini,  Bruzzano,  Ferruzzano,  CarafTa  d'Andria, 
and  Ali  Marina.  In  the  latter  town  he  met  persecu- 
tion of  the  olden  times.  Instigated  by  the  priests, 
the  villagers  stoned  him,  and  he  was  in  such  peril 
that  the  state  police  had  to  go  to  his  rescue.  As  is 
so  often  the  case,  however,  when  the  excitement  had 
cooled  down,  the  reaction  in  his  favor  set  in,  and 
many  went  to  him  with  words  of  sympathy.  These 
began  to  gather  regularly  to  listen  to  his  message, 
so  that  he  formed  a  permanent  congregation  there, 
which  gathers  weekly  in  a  salt  and  tobacco  shop 
under  the  care  of  a  local  preacher.  The  number  of 
those  present  increases  from  week  to  week." 


172  ASIA 

The  Waldensian  Aid  Society  reports  a  circulation 
of  3,56S  volumes,  largely  at  the  harbors  of  Genoa  and 
Naples,  among  those  starting  for  America,  many  of 
whom  had  seen  service  in  the  Italian  army  as  re- 
servists. 

They  Had   Been  Welcomed 

"Some  of  those  reservists,  when  returning  to 
America,  recognizing  in  our  Agent  the  man  who  was 
first  to  welcome  them  with  words  of  cheer  and  hope 
when  they  landed  in  Italy,  literally  kissed  and 
hugged  him,  so  happy  they  were  to  go  back  to 
America  and  see  their  pastors  and  friends  again. 
Others  did  not  know  how  rightly  to  express  their 
gratitude  for  the  little  book  they  received  on  landing 
in  Italy,  which  had  been  such  a  dear  companion  in 
the  long  years  spent  at  the  front." 

ASIA 

Arabia 

From  the  Arabian  Mission  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  America  comes  word  of  2,792  volumes  circulated. 
The  correspondent  records  a  previously  unmentioned 
cause  of  lack  of  colporteurs,  a  cause  in  which  all  will 
enter  with  sympathy: 

"For  the  past  year  we  have  been  shorthanded, 
and  now  we  are  without  colporteurs,  as  they  have 
gone  back  to  Armenia  to  find  what  is  left  of  their 
families.  This  is  a  loss,  in  a  way,  but  it  has  put  me 
on  the  road  with  the  gospel,  forcing  me  to  relinquish 
the  school  work  somewhat ;  and  it  has  given  me 
much  information  and  experience  in  the  matter  of 
selling  or  donating  the  Bible." 

India 

A  circulation  of  3,905  volumes  is  reported  by  the 
Madura   Mission  of  the  American   Board  of   Com- 


AFRICA  173 

missioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  while  the  Ceylon 
Mission  of  the  same  board  reports  no  circulation, 
but  asks  for  assistance  through  the  late  and  greatly 
missed  missionary  leader,  the  Rev.  Giles  G.  Brown, 
who  states,  "From  my  own  experience  and  observa- 
tion I  know  that  through  your  generosity  in  the  past 
the  Bible  is  read  and  appreciated  in  many  Hindu 
homes;  for  many  of  our  students  are  Hindus  who 


KURDISH    CHIEFS 
The  Gospels  were  first  printed  in  Kurdish  by  the  American  Bible  Societyjn  1919. 

carry  their  Bibles  home  to  their  people,  who  learn  to 
prize  it  and  whose  lives  are  influenced  by  it." 


AFRICA 

From  the  Inhambane  Mission  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  East  Africa,  through  the  Rev. 
W.   C.   Terrill,  have   appeared,  in  the  Bible  Society 


174  AFRICA 

Record,  reports  of  the  circulation  and  influence  of 
Scriptures  in  the  Sheetswa  and  Gitonga  languages. 
Something  further  about  their  services  has  been 
recorded  under  war  work  on  page  17. 

In  his  report  on  the  work  of  1919,  Mr.  Terrill  adds 
another  chapter  on  donations,  which  might  have 
been  entered  under  "War  Distribution": 

"To-morrow" 

"First,  I  wish  to  say  that  the  55  Bibles  marked 
in  the  report  'donated'  were  given  to  the  native 
Christians  who  had  served  their  country  at  the  front 
in  what  was  once  German  East  Africa,  and  were  for- 
tunate enough  to  withstand  some  of  the  German 
<  mslaughts  and  the  rigors  of  the  climate,  which  killed 
more  than  the  fighting  did.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
and  without  wishing  to  comment  on  the  Portuguese 
use  of  the  word  'to-morrow,'  the  natives  who  gave 
themselves  for  their  country  are  still  awaiting  the 
compensation  that  was  promised  them.  I  mention 
this  in  order  to  say  the  next.  Since  these  natives  did 
not  have  money  to  pay  for  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  since  the  one  they  took  with  them,  if  they  were 
fortunate  enough  to  own  one  at  that  time,  was  com- 
pletely  worn  out,  because  of  its  much  service — one 
copy  ofttimes  having  to  do  duty  for  at  least  fifty 
people — we  felt  that  we  could  do  nothing  better  than 
give  them  a  copy,  and  we  were  sure'that  you  would 
si  and  by  us  in  the  matter." 

How    a    German    Moslem    Soldier    Became    a 
British  Christian 

"An  example  of  the  real  missionary  work  that  was 
done  by  our  native  Christians  while  at  the  front  will 
interest  you,  I  am  sure.  Many  of  the  German  native 
soldiers  were  Mohammedans.  One  day,  during  a  skir- 
mish, some  of  the  German  native  Mohammedan  sol- 
diers were  taken  prisoners  by  the  Portuguese  native 


AFRICA  175 

Protestant  soldiers.  These  prisoners  must  have  been 
treated  kindly,  for  they  were  permitted  to  attend  the 
evening  and  morning  prayers  that  were  held,  when- 
ever opportunity  presented  itself,  by  the  native 
Protestant  Christians.  Very  deep  impressions  were 
made  on  some  of  these  prisoners.  'Providentially,' 
some  would  say,  'merely  a  coincidence,'  others  would 
say,  but  one  of  these  prisoners  was  sent  to  Inham- 
bane  and  put  to  work  at  one  of  the  government 
headquarters  close  to  one  of  our  outstations.  This 
prisoner  had  much  liberty  granted  to  him,  and  one 
day,  in  his  wanderings,  he  chanced  upon  this  out- 
station.  He  reported  his  experience  to  the  pastor- 
teacher,  and  soon  he  began  to  attend  morning  and 
evening  prayers  at  this  station,  the  Sunday  services, 
and  also  school.  During  his  conversations  he  would 
mention  the  names  of  some  whom  he  had  met  among 
the  native  Christians  at  the  front,  and,  again,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  many  were  from  that  very  com- 
munity. 

"The  war  is  now  over,  and  this  native,  once  a 
German  Mohammedan  soldier,  is  set  free.  One  day, 
not  long  ago,  Muhammed — for  that  is  his  name — 
came  to  the  missionary  and  wanted  a  church  letter 
to  take  with  him  to  Johannesburg,  since  he  was  going 
there  to  work  in  the  mines  and  he  wanted  to  join 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  there.  Imagine 
the  missionary  and  his  surprise  that  Muhammed 
should  wish  a  church  letter  from  a  Christian  mis- 
sionary! Before  the  letter  was  granted,  the  ques- 
tions asked  elicited  from  the  applicant  the  foregoing 
story,  which  was  confirmed  by  his  pastor-teacher 
and  many  others  who  knew  him.  Muhammed  is 
to-day  a  probationer  in  our  church  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, undergoing  a  training  for  baptism  and  mem- 
bership." 

The  more  normal  work  and  opportunities  of  peace 
time  are  pictured  in  the  following  extracts : 


176  AFRICA 

Sheetswa  and  Gitonga  on  the  Rand 

"Permil  meaword  alsoaboul  the  great  opportunity 

to  do  eolportage  work  by  our  mission  here  in  the 
Transvaal,  in  the  mine  compounds,  in  the  Sheetswa 
and  Gitonga  languages.  Very  much  is  being  done  in 
other  languages.  The  Rand  is  a  very  cosmopolitan 
center.  One  hundred  and  one  different  languages  are 
spoken  here,  many  of  them,  of  course,  being  native 
African.  But  the  other  day  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures 
was  called  for  in  Icelandic  by  a  native  of  Iceland, 
who  works  here. 

"There  are  approximately  ol4,160  native  Africans 
employed  in  the  mines  on  the  Rand.  Mozambique, 
or  Portuguese  East  Africa,  furnishes  105,237  of  that 
number.  It  sends  to  the  Transvaal  more  natives 
than  any  other  section  of  Africa.  Inhambane  and 
ChaiChai,  the  two  ports  of  Mozambique  from  which 
the  natives  embark  for  the  Transvaal,  and  which  draw 
from  the  boundaries  of  our  mission,  send  an  average 
of  900  a  week,  or  46,800  a  year  to  these  mines.  The 
personnel  of  the  natives  changes  almost  entirely  every 
two  years.  Fully  three-fourths  of  these  46,800  natives 
speak  the  Sheetswa  and  Gitonga  languages,  principally 
the  former.  Thus  we  should  be  making  possible,  for 
at  least  35,000  natives,  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  lan- 
guages: Sheetswa  and  Gitonga.  Had  we  a  supply  of 
these  Scriptures  we  could  sell  large  quantities  continu- 
ally, providing  that  we  had  a  white  colporteur." 

Conclusion 

And  now  we  end  this  sketch  of  the  devotion  and 
labors  of  the  Agency  Secretaries,  Colporteurs,  Volun- 
teers, and  Correspondents  who  have  made  the  record 
possible.  Has  the  American  Bible  Society  fulfilled 
in  1919  the  "sole  object"  prescribed  in  its  Constitu- 
tion? It  believes  that  it  has,  with  the  blessing  of 
Him  whose  Word  shall  not  return  unto  Him  void. 


Princeton  Theological   Seminary   UbW** 


1    1012  01355  3971 


Agencies  of  the  American  Bible  Society 

Home 
Colored  People  of  the  United  States,  Rev.  J.  P.  Wragg,  D.  D., 

Bible  House,  Astor  Place,  New  York  City 
Northwestern  Agency,  Rev.  S.  H.  Kirkbride,  D.D., 

332  South  Michigan  Ave,,  Chicago,  111. 

South  Atlantic  Agency,  Rev.  M.  B.  Porter, 

313a  East  Grace  Street,  Richmond,  Va. 

Western  Agency,  Rev.  Arthur  F.  Ragatz,  D.D., 

808  Railroad  Building,  Denver,  Colo. 

Pacific  Agency,  Rev.  A.  Wesley  Mell, 

122  McAllister  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Southwestern  Agency,  Rev.  J.  J.  Morgan, 

1304  Commerce  Street,  Dallas,  Tex. 

Eastern  Agency,  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Benson, 

137  Montague  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Central  Agency,  Rev.  Frank  Marston,  D.D., 

424  Elm  Street,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Atlantic  Agency,  Rev.  Frank  P.  Parkin,  D.D., 

701  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Foreign 

f  Rev.  Arthur  C.  Ryan, 

Bible  House,  Constantinople,  Turkey. 
Levant  Agency,  -!  *  Rev    Franklin  e.  Hoskins,  D.D., 

[  Beirut,  Syria. 

La  Plata  Agency,  Rev.  Francis  G.  Penzotti, 

Casilla   de   Correo,   304,   Calle   Parana,   481, 

Buenos   Ayres,  Argentina. 

Japan  Agency,  t  Rev.  Karl  E.  Aurell, 

Bible  House,  Ginza  Street,  Tokyo,  Japan. 

China  Agency,  Rev.  John  R.  Hykes,  D.D., 

73  Szechuen  Road,  Shanghai,  China. 

Brazil  Agency,  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  D.D., 

Caixa  do  Correio,  454,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

Mexico  Agency,  Rev.  A.  H.  Mellen, 

Apartado  1373,  Mexico  City,  Mexico. 

West  Indies  Agency,  Jose  Marcial-Dorado,  Ph.D., 

San  Juan,  Porto  Rico. 

Siam  Agency,  Rev.  Robert  Irwin,  Bangkok,  Siam. 

Panama  Canal  and  Cen-  )  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan, 

tral  America  Agency,  J      Bible  House,  Cristobal,  Canal  Zone. 

Philippines  Agency,  Rev.  J.  L.  McLaughlin, 

Box  755,  Manila,  P.  I. 

West  Coast  South  America  Agency,  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan, 

Bible  House,  Cristobal,  Canal  Zone. 

*  In  charge  of  the  Arabic-speaking  portion  of  the  field, 
t  Acting  Agency  Secretary. 


